Falling For You
by ocfanatic2013
Summary: Rachel and Santana go from enemies, to friends, to... more than friends? Story is better than the summary, I promise
1. Chapter 1

Santana Lopez felt her jaw drop as she read the room assignments for Nationals. The New Directions were in the lobby of their New York Hotel and Will Schuester, their director, had just handed everyone a copy of the list of room assignments for the trip. The group would be in New York for two weeks and they had to live with their assigned roommate for that long. '_No way. Not possible._' Santana thought. She opened her mouth to speak, but Will beat her to it. "Sorry, Santana. No trading. It's too big of a hassle. You are going to stay in the room you were assigned to." he said. Santana sighed in defeat and looked around her roommate. She glared at the girl before grabbing her key and walking toward the elevator without waiting for the other girl.

Rachel Berry stared at the paper she had just been handed in disbelief. She couldn't understand how she was expected to stay in the same room as Santana Lopez for two weeks. She was now completely convinced Mr. Schue was trying to send her to her own death. She looked over at the teacher and saw that he and Santana were talking, no doubt about the room assignments. The taller girl turned to glare at the diva before stalking off in the direction of the elevators. Rachel sighed and accepted her key from Mr. Schuester before walking in the trail of her new roommate.

Santana saw Rachel walking toward her and willed the elevator to move faster. It seemed that not only did Will Schuester hate her, but God did as well, because Rachel arrived at Santana's side at least a minute before the elevator showed up. Santana refused to even make eye contact with Rachel. Silently, the two girls entered the elevator when it finally arrived. As Santana pushed the button for their floor, Rachel took that opportunity to speak. "I know you aren't thrilled about rooming with me, so if you want to sneak off to Brittany and Quinn's room at night after bed check and come back in the morning before wake up calls, I won't tell Mr. Schue." Santana looked over at Rachel in surprise. She would have expected the smaller girl to be the first one to rat her out.

"No, I'm good." Santana said. This time, it was Rachel's turn to look surprised.

"Really?" she said. Santana nodded. "Why?"

"Because you offered. It gives me a little bit more respect for you. But just because we work together, doesn't mean we're suddenly best friends. Is that clear?" Santana clarified. Rachel nodded. Things had barely gotten better over the past two months, on the day Santana and Rachel had found out that they were co-workers at Rachel's uncle's restaurant.

FLASHBACK

_Santana walked into the Lima Italian Restaurant. It wasn't Breadsticks, but it would have to do. Her parents wouldn't allow her to work at Breadsticks, in fear that she would come home with wheelbarrows full of breadsticks everyday. She immediately saw her new boss, Trevor Spring. She walked over to the man. "Hi, Mr. Spring." she said. He turned around._

"_Santana! Glad you made it. Are you ready for your first day?" he asked. Santana nodded. "Great. Let me introduce you to my niece. She'll be training you for the next couple of days." Santana nodded and Trevor went and retrieved someone from the back of the restaurant. Words couldn't describe the shock between the two girls when the saw each other._

"_Berry?" Santana said._

"_Santana?" Rachel asked._

"_You're his niece?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded._

"_You're the polite, enthusiastic new employee?" Rachel asked. Santana raised an eyebrow in response_

"_Rachel, please just teach Santana how to wait on the tables." Trevor said. Rachel nodded and her uncle walked away. _

"_Time for some rules, Santana. You don't get to pick on me here like you do at school, okay? Here I am in charge and you do what I say. If you don't like that then tell me now and you can leave." Rachel said. Santana stared at her in shock. She had never seen Rachel stand up for herself before. "Hello?" Rachel said impatiently._

"_Uh… yea sure. Just show me what to do. But just we're clear, this doesn't change how we interact at school, got it?" Santana said. Rachel nodded._

"_Whatever. Let's just get to work okay?" Santana nodded_

_END FLASHBACK_

The elevator arrived at their floor and the two girls exited and went in search of their room. Santana allowed Rachel to enter the room first and quickly followed the other girl into the room. "Nice room." Santana commented. Rachel nodded. "So, we don't have to be back downstairs until tomorrow. Do you want the shower first?" Santana offered. The smaller girl shook her head.

"You can go first." Rachel said. Santana nodded and got her stuff to shower with and headed into the bathroom. Once Rachel heard the water running, she fell onto one of the beds and fell asleep. After her shower, Santana came out of the bathroom and heard Rachel's voice. Assuming the singer was talking to herself, Santana went out with the full intention on making fun of Rachel. However, she noticed that Rachel was sleeping and her words sounded like cries of pain. "No. NO! No, please don't!" Rachel yelled. Santana felt her eyes widen and she dropped her stuff and rushed over to the bed.

"Berry. Hey, Berry. Rachel, wake up." Santana said. She gently shook the girl, but Rachel didn't wake up. Instead, she pulled away from Santana and turned over.

"Stay away from me! Just go away!" Rachel yelled, still asleep. Without thinking, Santana laid down on the bed and wrapped her arms around Rachel in an attempt to calm her down. Santana whispered in Rachel's ear.

"Hey, its okay. It's Santana. You're okay. You're safe, Rachel." Santana said. After about ten minutes, the sleeping girl calmed down. Santana reached over and pushed some of Rachel's hair out of her face. The girl woke up at the light contact.

"Santana?" Rachel asked. The two girls looked at their embrace. Embarrassed, Santana moved away.

"You were having a nightmare or something. You were freaking out. I was trying to calm you down." Santana explained. Rachel nodded.

"Thank you." she said. She got up from the bed. Santana followed suit. They reached for Santana's things at the same time, their hands brushing against each other's. Pulling back, Santana looked into Rachel's eyes. She took a step forward and gently placed her hands on Rachel's waist. She looked for any signs of objection before kissing Rachel. After about twenty seconds of kissing each other, Santana suddenly pulled back.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I'm going to go to Brittany's room for a little bit, but I will be back for bed checks, I promise. You won't get in trouble." Santana said before rushing out of the room, leaving Rachel completely confused.


	2. Chapter 2

Santana rushed to Brittany's room and knocked on the door. "Q! Britts! Open up!" she yelled. The door swung open. "Its about time." Santana said, making her way into the room.

"What are you doing here, Santana? Get tired of quality time with Man Hands?" Quinn Fabray teased one of her two best friends. Santana turned around a glared at Quinn.

"Shut up, Quinn." she snapped. Quinn backed off immediately. "Sorry." Santana apologized.

"Its okay. I get that staying with Man Hands can make someone testy." Quinn said. The Hispanic girl forced a laugh as she felt her phone buzz

**New Message**

**Berry**

**I'm so sorry about what happened. I totally get it if you want to stay with Brittany.**

Santana instantly felt bad. It wasn't like it was Rachel who had kissed her. It had been the other way around. "Who was it?" Quinn asked, snapping Santana out of her train of thought.

"Huh? Oh it was just the dwarf. Apparently she can't reach one of the shelves that holds the towels or something. I better go back and make sure she doesn't fall and kill herself by accident or something like that." Santana said. Quinn laughed.

"I'll walk you out." Quinn said. Santana raised an eyebrow.

"Wow. A whole ten feet. Thanks Q." Santana said. Quinn winked and closed the door behind Santana. The girl walked back to her hotel room and opened the door with her key. She was about to call Rachel's name when she saw the girl in question sitting in a chair facing the window. "Rachel?" she said softly. The girl looked at her before turning back to the window. "Rachel, you have nothing to apologize for." Santana said. She advanced on Rachel. As she got closer to the girl, she realized she was crying. "Rachel, are you okay?" she asked. Rachel shook her head. "Rachel, you didn't have to apologize for earlier. It wasn't your fault. It was mine. I'm so sorry." Santana said.

"Santana, its not that." Rachel said.

"Then what is it?" Santana asked. Rachel took a deep breath.

"I like you, Santana. And for a moment, I guess I thought that maybe you liked me too." Rachel said. Santana closed her eyes.

"Oh wow. Rachel, that… I'm so sorry. I had no idea. If I had known, I wouldn't have kissed you." Santana said. Rachel looked away. "I'm sorry, Rachel. I just… I don't think I feel that way about you." Santana said. Rachel nodded.

"Its okay. I get it. Trust me, I get it. I'm an expert at being rejected. I'll get over it. No harm done." Rachel said. Santana tried to apologize again, but Rachel stopped her. "I'm fine, Santana. Really." she said. She looked at Santana with questioning eyes. "But… can I… can I kiss you one more time?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel, I don't think that's such a good idea." Santana said.

"Please Santana. Just once." Rachel said. Santana nodded.

"Okay." she whispered. She closed her eyes as Rachel kissed her. Slowly, Santana pulled away. Rachel's eyes were still closed. Santana looked away.

"Thank you." Rachel whispered. Santana nodded. Rachel stood up. "I think I'm going to go to Mercedes and Tina's room." she said.

"You don't have to do that." Santana said. Rachel turned around.

"Yes I do. Maybe I'll see you later." Rachel said. She smiled sadly and turned around to leave the room.

"Rachel, wait." Santana said. The smaller girl ignored her. "Rachel…" The girl in question made her way to the room Mercedes and Tina were staying in. She gently knocked on the door. Mercedes opened it.

"What's up diva?" she asked with a smile. Rachel smiled and entered the room.

"Nothing much. Had to get out of the room." Rachel said. Mercedes nodded in understanding.

"Needed a safe haven. I totally get that. Living with Satan won't be easy, but you know you can always come by here if you need to get away from the devil who is taking the form of your roommate for the next two weeks." Mercedes joked. Rachel shrugged silently. Inside, she was upset about what Mercedes had said, but she was also really confused. She was able to pass off the first kiss as Santana getting caught up in the moment. But the fact that she allowed Rachel to kiss her again had to mean something. Rachel was having a hard time dealing with all of the mixed feelings she was experiencing. She was about to respond to Mercedes' multiple attempts to get her attention when her phone buzzed.

**New Message**

**Satan**

**I think we should talk about this. Please come back.**

"Who is it?" Mercedes asked. Rachel looked up.

"Santana. Apparently I left my iTouch playing my Broadway musical playlist on the docking station and Santana doesn't know my password. She wants me to come turn it off before she breaks it herself." Rachel said. She waved and walked out of the room. She made her way to her room and saw Santana sitting in the same chair that Rachel had previously been sitting in. "Hi." Rachel whispered. Santana looked over at her and offered Rachel a small smile and a slight wave. "I'm sorry for walking out. It was immature and I should have stayed so we could have talked about it." Rachel said. Her roommate nodded. "I just… I'm so confused about all the feelings and thoughts that I'm having right now. I know that you aren't feeling the same as I am right now and that you don't feel the same about me that I do about you." Rachel said. Santana looked at her before turning her head to look away. Rachel slightly sighed before settling on her bed to sit down on. Santana stared at Rachel for a few moments. Rachel couldn't meet Santana's gaze. It was too heartbreaking. She stood up and walked into the bathroom. Santana watched the direction her roommate went and followed. She walked into the bathroom and saw Rachel sitting on the toilet lid. Santana walked over and sat down on the edge of the tub.

"Rachel…" Santana said.

"You don't have to say it, Santana. I know you don't have feelings for me. Please, just don't say it out loud." Rachel said. Santana took her hand, lifted it to her lips, and kissed it. Rachel watched her with tears in her eyes. "Why are you doing this to me?" she croaked out. Santana looked at their linked hands.

"Shh… can I talk for a moment?" Santana requested. Rachel nodded silently. "Rachel, I admit that I wasn't thrilled about rooming with you. But when you offered to cover for me with Schuester and let me room with Britt and Q, it made me respect you. It made me think that maybe I could handle living with you for two weeks. When I walked out of the bathroom and saw you having a nightmare, it scared me. It made me want to help you stop being so scared and to make you feel safe and to help you get better. And when I kissed you…" Santana trailed off. Rachel looked at her expectantly, but didn't say anything. "When I kissed you, I felt… I felt something. When you kissed me, I felt it again. It scares me, but I want to… I guess I want to explore these feelings. The feelings that I'm having for _you_. I know that you've liked me for at least a little while, and I'm sure I've hurt you during the time. I am truly, deeply, sorry about that. And now I'm just asking for a chance to prove that." she said. Rachel looked at her for a moment. "Please say something, Rachel." Rachel looked down at their hands before looking back up at Santana. Rachel leaned in closely and kissed Santana softly. Santana dropped her grip on Rachel's hand and grabbed the back of Rachel's neck to pull her closer. Rachel rested her hands on Santana's waist in return. Santana softly pulled away and rested her forehead on Rachel's. "Is that a yes?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded. Santana smiled and kissed Rachel again before standing up and walking out of the bathroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Santana smiled at Rachel, kissed her again, and walked to the doorway before turning around to smile at Rachel. "Are you coming with me or are you just going to sit on the toilet by yourself?" Santana asked. Rachel smiled and Santana walked over to Rachel and offered Rachel her hand. Rachel took the hand and allowed Santana to pull her up off the toilet and out of the bathroom. Santana smiled and leaned in to softly kiss Rachel. The smaller girl smiled and Santana pulled Rachel into a hug. Rachel smiled again.

"Santana, I don't think you know how long I've wanted this." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Well, I know now Rachel." Santana said. She fell down on the bed, pulling Rachel into the space next to her.

"Santana, what are we doing?" Rachel asked. Santana gave her a confused look. "I mean, what are we doing, like, right now? I'm not ready for-" Santana cut her off.

"I know you aren't, Rachel. I'm not pushing you to do anything. I just want to lay with you for a little bit." Santana said. Rachel smiled as Santana wrapped her arm around Rachel's waist and pulled her closer. "Rachel this isn't about hooking up. Okay? This is about us. Its about you and me." Santana said. Rachel nodded and after awhile, the two girls fell asleep. They didn't wake up until there was the phone rang. Groaning, Rachel reached over and picked it up. Santana watched as she listened to the message.

"That was Mr. Schuester informing us of our wakeup call. We are to be in the lobby at precisely 8:00." Rachel said. The taller girl had to bite back her laughter. "What is so funny, Santana?" she asked.

"Its just us in here, Rachel. You don't have to be so formal." Santana said. Rachel thought back to what she had said and giggled. "We should get ready." Santana suggested. Rachel nodded her agreement and exited the bed. Well, attempted to. Before she could stand up, Santana pulled her back into a kiss. "This is nice." Santana said. Rachel nodded with her eyes still closed. Santana smiled and pecked her on the lips again before sending her on her way. Santana remained in the bed for fifteen minutes longer before getting up and getting ready. At 7:55, Santana sat on the bed, where she had been sitting for ten minutes straight. "Rachel, come on. You've been getting ready for over forty-five minutes." she complained. Rachel opened the door.

"Santana, you're a girl. You know how long it takes to get… ready…" Rachel trailed off when she saw Santana. "How long did it take you to get ready?" she asked.

"Fifteen minutes. Let's go." Santana said. She made her way to the door but was stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around her waist. "What's up, Rae?" Santana asked, smiling.

"What are we going to tell people, San?" Rachel asked. Santana closed her eyes. "I mean, I wasn't sure if you wanted to be out quite yet or if we're even an official couple…" The taller girl turned around and kissed Rachel.

"Do you want to be official?" Santana whispered. Silently, Rachel nodded her head and looked in the other girl's eyes. "Then Rachel Berry, will you be my official, amazing, talented, and incredibly hot girlfriend?" Santana asked. Rachel smiled sadly.

"I'm not hot." she whispered before looking down. Santana frowned and ducked her head to meet Rachel's eyes. When Rachel refused to look at Santana, the taller girl put her hand under the diva's chin and gently lifted Rachel's head up.

"Yes you are. Do not _ever_ listen to Karofsky, or Sue Sylvester, or another Cheerio again, because they are all wrong. I am sorry that I ever made you feel that way. Rachel, you are beautiful." Santana said.

"No, _you're _beautiful. I'm pretty, at best." Rachel said.

"You're beautiful. Don't you ever think differently." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"Yes. I'll be your girlfriend." Rachel said. Santana grinned. "But what do we tell the rest of the club?" Santana's smile deflated.

"I don't know. Do you think we should keep quiet until after Nationals? The club doesn't need another distraction." Santana said. Rachel nodded.

"Plus, what if Jesse leaves before its actually time for competition? Think of all the direction and advice we could lose. Think of what he could do. He could go and tell Vocal Adrenaline all of our strategies and secrets about our performance. I mean, we're already going to have to work to make sure that they don't spy on us while we're rehearsing." Rachel said. Santana nodded in agreement.

"So… we keep us to ourselves. But what about when we're in there? I don't want to go back to insulting you." Santana said.

"You're Santana Lopez. People will know something is up if you don't. Trust me, I'll be fine with it. You and I will know its for show. Plus, look at it this way. Keeping us a secret will give us a chance to explore us without everyone jumping on our cases. This can be a good thing." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Okay, but just know that no matter what I say out there, I really do like you, Rachel. A lot." Santana said.

"I know you do." Rachel said.

"And I'm not ashamed of you. That's not what keeping quiet about us is about." Santana continued.

"I never thought that." Rachel said before leaning up to hug Santana reassuringly. "I never thought that for a second." she whispered into Santana's ear. Santana hugged Rachel back.

"Good. Because I'm not. I just think that the group needs to spend the next two weeks focusing on Nationals, and not us." Santana said. Rachel nodded.

"I completely agree, Santana… its kind of amazing how much things have changed in such a short amount of time." Rachel said. Santana shook her head.

"We have to admit, we were becoming semi-friends since I started working at your uncle's restaurant. That's a huge step forward for us. Its, like, getting married." she said, covering her mouth when she realized what she said. "That came out weird. That's not what I meant…" Santana trailed off, clearly embarrassed. Rachel smiled.

"I knew what you meant, San." Rachel said. Santana smiled and hugged Rachel. Rachel was about to kiss Santana when a knock at their door pulled them apart.

"What do you want?" Santana growled.

"Rach, Mr. Schue says that you guys need to come down now." Finn said. Santana glared at the door.

"Thank you Finn. We'll be right down." Rachel said in her normal cheery tone.

"Cool. I was thinking that maybe you and I could talk on the way there." Finn said. The smaller girl looked up at her girlfriend. Santana shook her head.

"Sure Finn. Just give me a second." Rachel said. '_I'm sorry._' she mouthed to her girlfriend as she walked to get her bag.

"Rachel, I don't think that's a good idea." Santana whispered. Rachel shrugged and grabbed her bag, phone, and key.

"I'm sorry. You have to trust me, Santana." Rachel said.

"I can't exactly trust Frankenteen, Rachel." Santana argued.

"San, I owe him that much." Rachel said. Santana sat down on the bed. Rachel sat in her lap and kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry. But I need to do it, okay?" she asked. Santana looked at her for a moment and sighed heavily.

"Fine, Rachel. It's okay. Go ahead and talk to Finn." Santana said. Rachel gave Santana a small and kissed her. "I'll go first, okay?" Santana said. Rachel nodded and Santana stood up and grabbed her bag, phone, and key. She kissed Rachel once more before opening the door. She glared at Finn, pushed past him, and made her way to the elevators to go downstairs. Rachel came out the room soon after.

"What did you want to talk about Finn?" Rachel asked. Finn smiled and they walked to the elevators and got in one. Finn pressed the button before he spoke again.

"Us. I've been thinking… we go great together. You're the only girl I think about and I think about you all the time." Finn said.

"You're with Quinn." Rachel said. Finn shook his head.

"We broke up at the funeral. We broke up because I still love you." Finn said. Rachel looked at him with wide eyes.

"Finn…" Rachel said. She looked up and noticed that they were nearing the lobby. Finn smiled and kissed her just as the doors opened. Rachel heard a series of gasps and jumped back. All of New Directions was staring at them, but the only face she registered was Santana's who looked at the two, glared at Finn, before looking at Rachel again. She rolled her eyes and walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

Santana exited the elevator and found her team waiting for her. She made her way over to them and sat down, saying that Rachel and Finn were on their way. As they waited, Santana thought back to how just the day before she had thought she had hated the smaller girl with a passion, but in just one night, all that had changed. Not only did she like Rachel Berry as a person, but she liked her as more than just a friend. Santana was amazed that she was able to feel that way about her. She started to smile as she thought of Rachel, but stopped when she remembered where she was. They saw the elevator doors open and they all moved in front of them. The first thing they saw was Rachel and Finn kissing in the elevator. Santana took the sight in before glaring at Finn. She looked at Rachel and concentrated on not letting the hurt she was feeling show in her eyes. She rolled her eyes at the sight and turned around to walk to their rehearsal room.

Rachel watched as Santana walked away. She wanted nothing more than to be able to go after her, but she couldn't. Instead, she turned to Finn. "Finn, I'm sorry, but I don't love you anymore. We're over." Finn stared at her in shock.

"But Rachel…" he trailed off.

"Guys, how about we get off the elevator so that other people can use it." Will suggested, pulling Finn and Rachel out of the elevator and into the rehearsal room.

"Rachel, how can you say that we're over?" Finn asked. Rachel started to answer, but was interrupted again.

"Can you two talk about this when we get back to Lima? Some of us would like to focus on winning Nationals, not the Finchel show." Santana said bitterly, glaring at the two. '_I am officially not allowed to be happy. Its just not meant to happen._' she thought. Rachel looked at her.

"Excellent idea, Santana. Let's warm up with solos from everyone. Who would like to go first?" Will asked. Santana raised her hand. Will nodded. "Sure, Santana. Go ahead. Everyone be quiet." he said. Santana went to the front of the room and whispered a song to the band. She grabbed a microphone, went to the middle of the mock-stage and waited for her cue as the music started playing. She opened her mouth to start singing.

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_  
><em>But the very next day you gave it away<em>  
><em>This year, to save me from tears<em>  
><em>I'll give it to someone special<em>

_Once bitten and twice shy_  
><em>I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye<em>  
><em>Tell me baby, do you recognize me?<em>  
><em>Well it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me<em>  
><em>Happy Christmas<em>

_I wrapped it up and sent it_  
><em>With a note saying 'I love you', I meant it<em>  
><em>Now I know what a fool I've been<em>  
><em>But if you kissed me now, I know you'd fool me again<em>

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_  
><em>But the very next day you gave it away<em>  
><em>This year, to save me from tears<em>  
><em>I'll give it to someone special<em>

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_  
><em>But the very next day you gave it away<em>  
><em>This year, to save me from tears<em>  
><em>I'll give it to someone special<em>

_Special_  
><em>Yea yea<em>

_A crowded room, friends with tired eyes_  
><em>I'm hiding from you, and your soul of ice<em>  
><em>I thought you were someone to rely on<em>  
><em>Me, I guess I was a shoulder to cry on<em>

_A friend to discover with a fire in her heart_  
><em>A man under cover but you tore me apart<em>  
><em>Now I've found a real love, you'll never fool me again<em>

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_  
><em>But the very next day you gave it away<em>  
><em>This year, to save me from tears<em>  
><em>I'll give it to someone special<em>

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_  
><em>But the very next day you gave it away<em>  
><em>This year, to save me from tears<em>  
><em>I'll give it to someone special<em>

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_  
><em>But the very next day you gave it away<em>  
><em>This year, to save me from tears<em>  
><em>I'll give it to someone special<em>

_I"ll give it to someone special_

Rachel stared at Santana as she was singing. She was singing _Last Christmas_, which everyone else thought was odd, as it was May. But Rachel found nothing odd about it,and it seemed as if she was singing to her. She had to find a way to explain to Santana what had happened between her and Finn in the elevator. But she couldn't do anything about it now. She had to wait until lunch. As Santana ended her song, she looked at Rachel for a moment before looking away and sitting down. Rachel felt bad, but she had to wait. When Mr. Schue dismissed them for lunch, Rachel tried to talk to Santana, but her attempts failed.

"Santana, please talk to me." Rachel said. Santana rolled her eyes.

"I'm not really interested in what you have to say, so there's no point in talking." Santana said before walking away. Santana avoided Rachel throughout lunch and sat with Quinn and Brittany. Rachel sat with Kurt, Tina and Mercedes. After lunch, it was Rachel's turn to perform.

_I'm not alone  
>Even when we're apart I feel you<br>In the air  
>(yeah)<br>I'm not afraid  
>I know what you're thinkin'<br>I can hear you everywhere_

_Some people say it'll never happen_  
><em>And we're just wasting time<em>  
><em>But good things come when you least expect them<em>  
><em>So I don't really mind<em>

_We'll be together come whatever_  
><em>Not just staring at the stars<em>  
><em>Just remember<em>  
><em>That no one else could tell us who we are<em>  
><em>We'll be together so don't ever<em>  
><em>Stop listening to your heart<em>  
><em>Cuz I can't turn mine up<em>  
><em>Oohhh (yeah, yeah) ohhh<em>

_I can't pretend_  
><em>This is a rehearsal for the real thing<em>  
><em>Because it's not<em>  
><em>And I know we're young<em>  
><em>I can't help feeling what I'm feeling<em>  
><em>And I won't stop<em>

_Some things are meant to be and will be there_  
><em>When the time is right<em>  
><em>Even though I know that<em>  
><em>I swear I wish you were tonight<em>

_We'll be together come whatever_  
><em>Not just staring at the stars<em>  
><em>Just remember<em>  
><em>That no one else could tell us who we are<em>  
><em>We'll be together so don't ever<em>  
><em>Stop listening to your heart<em>  
><em>Cuz I can't turn mine up<em>

_Ooooh yeah_  
><em>I like what's happening to me<em>  
><em>Ooooh yeah<em>  
><em>Nothing else to say<em>  
><em>Oh, Ooooh yeah<em>  
><em>Somebody finally got to me<em>  
><em>Carry me away<em>

_We'll be together come whatever_  
><em>Not just staring at the stars<em>  
><em>Just remember<em>  
><em>That no one else could tell us who we are<em>  
><em>We'll be together so don't ever<em>  
><em>Stop listening to your heart<em>  
><em>Cuz I can't turn mine up<em>  
><em>Oohhh oh yeah, yeah<em>  
><em>(we'll be together come whatever, come whatever, come whatever, come whatever)<em>  
><em>Ahh ohhh<em>

_I'm not alone_  
><em>Even when we're apart I feel you<em>

As Rachel finished singing, she looked anywhere but at Santana. She returned to her seat and listened to everyone else perform. She looked down at her hands through most of rehearsal. She felt her phone buzz. She eagerly looked at it, hoping that it was a message from Santana. She frowned when she looked at it.

**New Message**

**Finn**

**I love you. And I know you love me too. We should at least TALK about this.**

She sighed deeply and saw both Finn and Santana watching her. Finn smiled and Santana frowned in confusion. She turned to see Finn smiling at Rachel and rolled her eyes, scoffing. She shook her head and focused on Brittany, who was singing. After Brittany's song, Mr. Schue dismissed them to go wash up for dinner. He announced that they'd be singing duets with their roommates when they returned from dinner. Santana hurried ahead of Rachel with Brittany and Quinn. Rachel sighed and made her way to her room. She walked in and saw Santana getting her shower stuff ready. "Hi." she said. Santana looked up and saw her girlfriend standing in the entryway that was in their room. She nodded her head in response. "Can we talk?" Rachel asked. Santana sighed.

"You said enough when you had Finn's tongue down your throat." Santana said. Now it was Rachel's turn to sigh.

"If you'd just let me explain…" Rachel trailed off. Santana crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm waiting." she said.

"Finn kissed me. Not the other way around. I promise." Rachel said. Santana looked down.

"Rachel, I believe you. But maybe we were being stupid when we started this. Who are we kidding? We're Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry. We aren't meant to be together. We are meant to hate each other. The sooner we learn that, the better it is for both of our hearts." Santana said.

"I can't accept that. I don't care if I'm going to get hurt. I want you not Finn." Rachel said. Santana looked up.

"I don't know, Rachel." Santana said.

"Santana, please. Why would I want Finn when I have you? That doesn't even make any sense. Its like trading in a Ferrari to get a buspass." Rachel said. Santana raised an eyebrow. "One of my dads is really into cars." Rachel explained. Santana nodded in understanding.

"I'm assuming I'm the Ferrari in this case?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded.

"Of course you are." she said. Santana contemplated this. "Santana, you said you believe me. Why do you still want to put an end to all of this?" she asked. Santana looked at Rachel.

"I don't… I guess I just got scared when I saw you and Finn together." Santana admitted to Rachel. Rachel walked over to Santana and hugged her. "I'm sorry for being rude to you, Rachel." Santana said, hugging her back.

"Its okay, Santana." Rachel said. She kissed Santana's forehead. "Are we okay?" she asked. Santana nodded.

"Yea. We're good. Come on. We need to shower and get ready. We also have to think of a good song for our duet." Santana said. She smiled at Rachel and kissed her.


	5. Chapter 5

Santana and Rachel chose a song before washing up and going back downstairs for dinner with the rest of the club. At the restaurant, Rachel saw across from Santana and away from Finn. Every now and then, Santana would brush her foot against Rachel's leg, causing the other girl to grin. After they returned from the restaurant Rachel and Santana were the firsts to perform. They smiled and went to the stage and got ready to sing.

_(Santana):  
>I could stay awake just to hear you breathing<br>Watch you smile while you are sleeping  
>While you're far away and dreaming<br>_

_(Rachel):_

_I could spend my life in this sweet surrender  
>I could stay lost in this moment forever<br>Where every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure  
><em>

_(Both):  
>Don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep<br>'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing  
>'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do<br>I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing  
><em>

_(Santana):  
>Lying close to you feeling your heart beating<br>And I'm wondering what you're dreaming  
><em>

_(Both):_

_Wondering if it's me you're seeing  
><em>

_(Rachel):_

_Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together  
>I just wanna stay with you in this moment forever, forever and ever<br>_

_(Both):  
>I don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep<br>'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing  
>'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do<br>I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing  
><em>

_(Santana):  
>I don't wanna miss one smile, I don't wanna miss one kiss<br>I just wanna be with you, right here with you, just like this  
><em>

_(Rachel):_

_I just want to hold you close, feel your heart so close to mine  
>And just stay here in this moment for all the rest of time<br>_

_(Santana):  
>Don't wanna close my eyes, don't wanna fall asleep<br>'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing  
>'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do<br>I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing  
><em>

_(Rachel):_

_I don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep  
>'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing<br>'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do  
>I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing<br>_

_(Both):  
>I don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep<br>Yeah, I don't wanna miss a thing_

The Glee Club clapped awkwardly after the pair finished singing. Breaking eye contact, Santana went to her seat first. She received weird looks from Brittany and Quinn, but ignored them. After everyone finished singing, they were dismissed. Santana and Rachel both hurried to the elevators so none of the other members had the opportunity to question them about their duet. Only after they made it to their room did they take the opportunity to calm down. "You were amazing, you know?" Santana said to Rachel as the girl sat on one of the beds. Rachel looked up and smiled. "No, seriously. You did incredible on that song." she continued.

"So did you, Santana. You were so into the song." Rachel said. Santana grinned.

"What can I say? I was inspired." Santana said. She sat down next to Rachel, who was smiling. "Tell you what. You shower first and I'll watch TV until you get out. Then I'll shower and we'll go to sleep. Cool?" she suggested. Rachel nodded in agreement and went to take a shower. Santana expected to hear her belt out a song, but she heard nothing. She assumed it was because Rachel realized she was in a hotel where other people could hear her. She turned on the TV and waited for Rachel to be finished with her shower. When Rachel came out, Santana smiled at her before gathering her things and putting them in the bathroom. Just as she was about to close the door, Rachel slipped in and kissed her. "What was that for?" Santana asked. Rachel smiled.

"For saying that I inspired you during the song." Rachel whispered. Santana grinned and kissed her again. Rachel walked out of the bathroom. Santana showered and began to blow dry her hair. Just as she was finishing, she heard Rachel's voice. She turned off the dryer, thinking Rachel was trying to talk to her. She heard painful yells.

"Rachel." she whispered. She dropped the dryer and ran into the other room. She found Rachel on the bed, sleeping. She had flashbacks to the day before. "Rachel, wake up. It's okay. You're safe. Baby, you're okay." she said. Rachel continued to yell. Santana did the only thing she could think of to quiet her. She quickly kissed the other girl. Rachel's eyes flew open and she quickly pushed Santana off of her.

"I hate you! Stay away from me!" Rachel said. Santana looked up in shock.

"Rae, what's going on?" she asked.

"Santana?" Rachel asked. Santana raised an eyebrow. "I'm so sorry. I was…"

"I get Rae. It's okay. But I have to ask… what are your nightmares about?" Santana asked.

"When I was younger, one of my dads friends used to beat me. When my dads found out they were furious. It's actually why we moved to Lima. But ever since then, I've gotten nightmares." Rachel explained.

"Oh my god. Baby I… I didn't know. I'm sorry." Santana said. Rachel grabbed her hand.

"San, its okay. Really, I'm okay. But, uh, why did you kiss me to wake me up?" Rachel asked.

"It was the only way I could think of to shut you up. I didn't want people to hear you in the hallway and think you were being murdered or something." Santana explained. The other girl slightly laughed.

"I'm sorry for not telling you." Rachel said.

"Don't be. I promise to wake you up every single time you have a nightmare." Santana said. Rachel smiled and hugged her.

"Thank you." Rachel said. She reached over and grabbed Santana's hand. Just as she was about to lean in, there was a knock. Rachel groaned.

"What?" Santana growled.

"Rachel, we need to talk!" Finn said. Santana rolled her eyes. Rachel looked at her.

"San, what do I do?" Rachel said. Santana thought for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, Finn spoke again.

"Rachel? Oh my god… did Santana hurt you? Rach, hang tight. I'll go get Mr. Schue! I'll be right back." Finn said. Santana stood up.

"You don't do anything. I, however, go talk to Finn." she said. She walked over to the door and opened it. "Yo! Hudson! Rachel's fine!" Santana said. Finn looked at her.

"Then why didn't she respond when I spoke?" Finn asked. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Because she doesn't want to talk to you." Santana said. Finn glared at her. "What?" she asked.

"Rachel loves me." Finn said.

"No, she doesn't." Santana said.

"What do you know about how Rachel feels? You hate her." Finn said.

'_No, I don't._' Santana thought. What she said was, "Maybe, but I hate you ten times more and I don't want to have to listen to her go on and on about how annoying and pointless your advances are." Finn rolled his eyes and pushed past her. "Finn! Get out!" she said.

"Rachel, come on. Why are you ignoring me?" Finn asked. Rachel stared up at him before looking at Santana with a helpless, vulnerable expression. Santana got angry.

"Hudson, get out. You are extremely out of line." Santana said.

"Stay out of this!" he screamed. Santana began to walk out of the room, but Rachel's voice stopped her.

"Santana, please don't leave me!" Rachel said, her voice breaking. Santana quickly turned around and made her way to the bed and the other girl. "Please stay." Rachel whispered.

"I have to go get help." Santana replied quietly. Rachel shook her head.

"Don't leave me alone with him, San. Please." Rachel begged. Santana stared at her for a moment before nodding and grabbing her phone. Rachel watched as she dialed numbers and put the phone to her ear. Finn paced angrily in the room.

"Q! Get Schue and get to me and Berry's room now!… Why? Because Frankenteen going crazy, that's why! Just hurry!" she yelled into the phone.

"I said stay out of this, Lopez!" Finn said. Soon, they heard a banging on their door.

"Santana, Rachel, open up!" they heard their teacher yell. Santana sprinted to the door and beat Finn. She quickly opened the door and Will ran in. "Finn! You need to calm down now!"

"No! Rachel needs to admit that she has feelings for me!" Finn yelled.

"Finn, I moved on! I'm with someone else!" Rachel yelled. Santana looked over at her in surprise. "I… I'm sorry. But it's over." Rachel said quietly. Finn shook his head.

"Who is he?" Finn asked. Rachel looked down and shook her head. "Tell me, I'll beat him up."

"No. You won't." Rachel said, tears falling. Santana couldn't take seeing her girlfriend like this. She knew she had to say something. Just as she opened her mouth, Will interjected.

"It doesn't matter who it is. We can resolve this when we get back to Lima, okay? In the meantime, let's return to our assigned rooms." he said. Finn and Quinn left the room. As soon as the door shut, Santana made her way to Rachel.

"Are you okay?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded.

"Sorry I almost blew our secret." Rachel mumbled.

"Sorry, I didn't speak up when you did." Santana replied. Rachel shook her head. "If he tries again, I'm saying something. I don't care who's around. I'm saying something. He's not going to get away with doing this. It's obviously one sided and obviously bothering you and it's not okay with me." Santana said. Rachel shook her head.

"After Nationals." Rachel said.

"You're safety and privacy is more important. I won't say anything unless he does something else. But if he does, I'm letting him and everyone else know." Santana said.


	6. Chapter 6

Santana and Rachel spent the next two weeks on edge. Rachel was getting ready for Nationals and Santana was being careful in case Finn tried anything. Spending most of the next two weeks on lock down so that they could write two new songs for them to perform. Santana wasn't sure how much more time the rest of their friends could stand having to spend locked in a room with Rachel. Santana wasn't complaining and Finn wasn't either. Santana wasn't sure how much more time she could spend locked in a room with Rachel without killing Finn. He kept staring at Rachel and Santana was sick of it. Every now and then, Rachel would text Santana reassuring messages. That was really the only thing keeping her from attacking the boy. The night before Nationals, Santana was about ready to blow. Rachel spent the better part of an hour calming her seething girlfriend down. "All he does is stare at you. He doesn't even contribute anymore, because he's to busy looking at you. There are only two things that have kept me from telling him to back off." Santana said, looking at Rachel, who was sitting on one of the beds. Rachel had given up on her words being able to calm Santana down and sat down to let her vent. Santana was busy pacing across the room.

"And they are?" Rachel asked.

"The fact that we agreed to wait until after Nationals and the fact that I promised you that I wouldn't say anything unless he actually does something. So far, all he's done is stare at you. And while it pisses me off beyond belief, he hasn't done anything else." Santana said to Rachel.

"Santana, you have nothing to worry about. You know that right?" Rachel said. Her girlfriend nodded.

"Yea, I know. But that doesn't make me any less angry, Rae. But it's whatever, right? It's just one more night and then we can be out." Santana said. Rachel smiled and nodded.

"You still want that, right?" Rachel asked. Santana gave her a confused look. "I mean, if you want we don't have to tell everyone about us." she clarified.

"Rachel, that's not what I want. Is that what _you_ want?" Santana asked, slightly hurt.

"Of course not. But what about your reputation, San? You worked so hard to build it up. I don't want to be the thing that brings it all crashing down. I can't be the one that does that to you, Santana." Rachel said. Santana chuckled. "What's so funny?" Rachel asked.

"Okay first off, my reputation can withstand anything. That was proven when I quit Cheerios to be in Glee Club. And even if it couldn't, I wouldn't care. I don't want to hide this. No. Scratch that. Rachel, I _can't_ hide this. It's only been two weeks and it's _killing_ me inside. Seeing you in Glee and not being able to hug you when you sing an amazing song, not being able to hold you when Mr. Schue wrongfully doesn't give you a solo, not being able to cuss out anybody who makes fun of you and then make you feel better after you lecture me for cussing, not being able to kiss you whenever I feel like it… this is all killing me, Rachel. And the worst part is not being able to kick Finn in the balls every time he and I are in the same room. We're not hiding this. Not ever. I'm _not _ashamed of you. I'm proud to have you as my girlfriend. So as soon as we are announced the winners, I am going to walk over to wherever you happen to be standing and I'm going to kiss you in front of everyone. Including Finn. Is that okay?" Santana asked. Rachel smiled and slowly nodded. Santana smiled softly and kissed Rachel. "Okay." she whispered. Rachel grabbed Santana's hand. "We should get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow, don't we?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded.

"Yea, we do. Let's go to sleep." Rachel said. Santana nodded and the two put on their pajamas and got into the bed. "Do you find it weird that we are already sharing a bed and we've only been dating for a short amount of time? I mean we've shared the same bed this entire trip." Santana shrugged.

"No, not really. I mean, it's not like we're doing anything wrong. We're just cuddling, we aren't doing anything else." Santana said.

"You're the best girlfriend ever. You know that?" Rachel asked.

"I kinda had a feeling. I can't wait for tomorrow. We're gonna win Nationals, and then we're gonna announce our relationship to the Glee Club. And then you know what's gonna happen? You and I are going to freaking rule the school. We're gonna be the resident It couple. Sound good?" Santana asked. Rachel laughed and nodded.

"Sounds great, San." Rachel said. Santana smiled and hugged Rachel close to her body and ran her fingers through her girlfriend's hair until Rachel fell asleep. Santana quickly followed suit. The two woke up the next morning and Rachel was nervous. Santana was as well, but she played strong for Rachel.

"You're gonna be great, babe. You're amazing." Santana said. Rachel smiled. "You're nervous. I get it. Nervousness can be a bitch. But it's all good. Do you want to know why?" Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Because I's gots yo back, babe. You don't have to be nervous." Santana continued. Rachel grinned and hugged her girlfriend. "Hey, we have a competition to win. Let's go downstairs." Santana suggested. The two went downstairs and got dressed for competition. They performed their songs. After all the show choirs performed their songs, the New Directions awaited the top ten list. Mr. Schue went to read the list.

"What'd we rank, Mr. Schue?" Finn asked. The teacher turned around.

"We didn't." Every one of their faces fell.

"Excuse me." Rachel said. She pushed past the rest of the group and Santana, running out the doors of the theater and going to their hotel, which was next door.

"Rachel!" Santana yelled and ran after her. Everyone stared after the pair before running after, not wanting to miss a moment of the scene that was about to play out. They quickly caught up to Santana. The rest of the Glee Club and Santana entered their rehearsal room and saw Rachel crying. Finn pushed past Santana and went to Rachel.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She shook her head. He tried to reach out to her, but she pushed past him and went straight to Santana, who immediately took the girl into her awaiting arms. Rachel started crying.

"Hey, its okay. Its gonna be okay. Don't worry. We'll get through this. You'll be okay, I promise." Santana whispered as Rachel cried into her shoulder. She soothingly rubbed Rachel's back with one hand and stroked Rachel's hair with the other in an attempt to calm her down. She continued speaking softly to Rachel as the rest of the club looked on in shock. Santana looked up and noticed them all staring. "What are you looking at? Do you mind _not_ staring at my girlfriend while she's crying? Thanks." Santana growled.

"Girlfriend?" everyone exclaimed. Finn's jaw dropped.

"Since when?" he asked.

"Since we got to New York. Do you have a problem with that Finn?" Santana asked. The boy nodded his head and scoffed.

"Yea, I do Santana. And you're gonna have a problem soon, if you don't back away from my Rachel." Finn said. Santana raised an eyebrow.

"_Your_ Rachel?" Santana exclaimed. Finn nodded. Santana gently pushed Rachel out of the way, into the arms of Mercedes and Kurt, and launched towards Finn. Mike, Quinn, and Sam caught her before she could actually hit him. "What the hell is wrong with you Finn? Rachel already told you she didn't want to be with you! Why would you go and try to consol her when she clearly _can't stand_ you? Just back off already!" Santana yelled.

"No! I won't do that. I can't do that! Rachel, you know this is wrong! Santana is just trying to play you. She doesn't care about you!" Finn said. Santana prepared to lunge toward him once more, but was stopped by a soft voice.

"She cares about me more than you ever did." Rachel said quietly. Thirteen heads turned to look at her. "We're over, Finn. It's done. Move on. I have." Rachel said. Santana turned to walk back toward her girlfriend when she was pushed from behind.

"Santana!" Rachel screamed. The taller girl fell and her chin hit the floor when she landed.

"Ok, that's it." she said. She accepted Quinn's hand to help her up and turned to find Finn pinned to the wall by Puck. She started to launch toward Finn once more and was once again caught by Mike, Quinn, and Sam. "_Escucha! Soy de Lima Heights Adjacent y yo tengo orgullo! Sabes lo que pasa en Lima Heights Adjacent? Cosas malas!_" Santana yelled in Spanish. Mr. Schue stepped in between the scared gigantic boy and the pissed off Latina. "Stay away from her!" Santana yelled.

"Rachel, why don't you take Santana up to your room and calm her down. The rest of you guys, go back up to your rooms as well. Finn, you and I are going to stay here and have a little chat." Mr. Schue said. The group nodded. Rachel had already led Santana out of the room and the group started to follow. "Guys. Leave them alone for a bit okay? Give them some privacy. Don't hound them with questions." Mr. Schue said. They all nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

Santana and Rachel exited the elevator and walked to their room. The moment they were inside, Rachel was pulled into a hug. They didn't say anything for a while, just stood there in each other's arms. Every time Rachel shifted to get comfortable, Santana held her closer, as if Rachel was going to leave and never come back. "I'm not going anywhere, Santana." Rachel whispered. Santana buried her face in Rachel's shoulder and cried. The smaller girl felt her eyes widen. "San, are you okay?" Rachel asked. Rachel felt Santana shake her head and pulled back. "Santana, look at me. Tell me what's wrong." Rachel said. Santana looked away and that's when Rachel saw the beginnings of a humongous bruise on Santana's chin. "Is that from when Finn pushed you?" Rachel asked. Santana nodded. Fury in her eyes, Rachel gently pushed Santana onto the bed. "Stay here." she ordered. She left the room and went to Brittany and Quinn's room. She knocked on the door. "Brittany, can you please go stay with Santana for a moment. I have some business I need to attend to downstairs." Rachel requested.

"I would, but Mr. Schue said we weren't supposed to bother you guys." Brittany innocently replied.

"Brittany, I am giving you and Quinn permission to go be with Santana until I get back from downstairs, okay?" Rachel said. Brittany nodded and Quinn appeared.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked.

"You'll see when you see Santana." Rachel replied before walking away and heading toward the elevators. The doors opened and Finn and Mr. Schue exited. Rachel saw the boy and kicked him in the shins. "You son of a bitch! How could you do that? You jackass! You're such a freaking idiot, Finn!" Rachel yelled. Quinn and Brittany stared in shock.

Santana sat in her room as she waited for her girlfriend to come back. She knew she should have gone after Rachel, but her chin hurt too much to even consider it. She heard yelling and it sounded an awful lot like Rachel's voice. She ran out of the room to see what was going on. "Rae, baby, calm down. Don't kill him!" Santana yelled as she saw her girlfriend kicking Finn. She ran over and grabbed Rachel, pulling her away. "Rae, its okay. Calm down. Baby, you gotta calm down. Its okay, but you just gotta calm down, baby." Santana said. Rachel struggled in her arms, completely ignoring the taller girl's words.

"How could you hurt her? You had no right to do that! You're a pathetic jerk! You're just another Lima Loser!" Rachel screamed. Mr. Schue intervened.

"What is she talking about? Did he hurt you, Santana?" he asked. She quickly shook her head.

"Yes! That gigantic jerk bruised her chin when he pushed her out of anger!" Rachel yelled. Gently, Mr. Schue turned Santana's head so that he could see her chin. When he saw it turned angrily towards Finn.

"Finn! You are in so much trouble! Brittany, go get some ice from the mach… you know what, on second thought, Quinn go get some ice from the machine for Santana." Mr. Schue said. Confused, Quinn looked at Santana's chin.

"Oh my god…" Quinn said. She and Brittany ran down the hall to get the ice. Mr. Schue grabbed Finn by the shoulder and pulled him into Mr. Schue's room so that he could yell at him. Santana didn't let go of Rachel until the door was securely closed. When she did let go of Rachel, the smaller girl ran to the door and started banging on it.

"Finn Hudson, this conversation is not over!" Rachel yelled. Santana knew she should have stopped Rachel, but she didn't want to. She wanted Finn to feel the wrath of Rachel Berry. She instantly ran over when the door opened.

"Rachel, will you please go back to your room? I have this under control." Mr. Schue said. Rachel shook her head. He looked around and saw Santana approaching. "Santana, please?" he pleaded. She nodded and leaned down to whisper in Rachel's ear.

"Baby, come on. Let Mr. Schue talk to him." Santana said Rachel shook her head. "Rach, please. I need you to take care of me right now." Santana said. Rachel bit her lip and contemplated. "Rae…" Santana pleaded. That was all Rachel needed. She turned around, looked in Santana's eyes, and kissed her softly.

"I'm sorry." Rachel whispered. Santana nodded. Suddenly, Rachel started crying. The taller girl's eyes widened.

"Hey. It's okay. It's okay. Come on." Santana said. She gently led Rachel to their room for privacy. "Its okay, Rae. You're didn't do anything wrong. All you did was protect me, which isn't anything bad." Santana said. Rachel quickly wiped her eyes. She knew Santana hated seeing her cry.

_FLASHBACK_

_"Rae, I don't like it when you cry." Santana had said one night, as they were getting ready for bed. Rachel looked up in shock._

_"Ugh… random much?" Rachel asked, chuckling. Santana gave her a pointed glare, causing her laughter to stop. "Sorry. Why don't you like to see me cry, San?" Rachel asked._

_"Because of your nightmares. It scares me because I know it scares you. I don't want you to ever feel scared again." Santana said. Rachel smiled. "And, because it reminds me of how much I don't deserve you. I don't even want to think of how many times I've made you cry." Santana said. Rachel bit her lip, knowing how many times she had cried herself to sleep while she was dealing with her feelings for Santana. She kept her mouth quiet, knowing that would set Santana off. _

_"San, you've never made me cry." Rachel lied. Santana rolled her eyes._

_"Rachel that's a lie. I can already name four occasions where I've made you cry at school." Santana said._

_"San, its okay. Really." Rachel said. Santana shook her head._

_"I'm not good enough for you, Rachel." Santana said._

_"Santana, I've forgiven you for all of that. Really, I have. I have you, and I know you won't make me cry ever again." Rachel said._

_"Whenever I see you cry, I want to cry." Santana said._

_END FLASHBACK_

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry. I'm really sorry." Rachel said. Santana hugged her.

"Oh, Rae, baby it's okay. You don't have to apologize. Really, don't apologize. I'm not mad at you. You did your best out there today and you were amazing. And then you had to deal with Finn all up in your business afterward." Santana said.

"I wanted it to be you who came after me." Rachel said.

"Babe, I tried. Really, I did. Finn pu…" Santana didn't really want to bring up the word 'push' right now. "Finn beat me to it. I really did run after you, but he got there before me. I'm sorry babe." Santana said.

"Its okay. I'm not mad. I just wish he'd leave me alone." Rachel said.

"After the experience he just had, I have a feeling he will. I have a feeling a lot of people won't mess with you anymore." Santana said.

"What makes you say that?" Rachel asked.

"Because it is a well known fact that I only date fellow bad assess. Anyone less than that doesn't make the cut. And you're my girl, so you must qualify for that title." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"You think I'm a bad ass?" she asked. Santana nodded.

"You're my bad ass." Santana clarified. "No one else's."

"I wouldn't want to be anyone else's. The same thing goes for you, by the way. You're mine, not anyone else's." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Rae."


	8. Chapter 8

That night, Santana and Rachel were lying in bed. Neither girl was able to sleep. Santana wasn't able to sleep on her back and she couldn't hold Rachel and have her chin be comfortable enough to fall asleep at the same time. Santana knew that Rachel needed to be held at that moment. Santana planned to hold Rachel as long as the smaller diva wanted her to. Rachel couldn't sleep. All she could think about was how differentl things could have ended. For better... or for worse. For better, they could have won Nationals. Rachel could have announced her relationship with Santana by jumping into her arms and kissing her girlfriend while they were celebrating their win. Finn could have been supportive of their relationship. Or for worse, Finn could have seriously hurt Rachel. FInn could have seriously hurt _Santana_. Rachel closed her eyes at the thought. Unconciously, she reached around, feeling for Santana's arms around her. Rachel slightly smiled as she felt Santana squeeze her reassuringly. "Why can't you sleep?" Rachel asked. Santana shrugged.

"Why can't _you _sleep?" Santana asked.

"I asked you first." Rachel said. Santana slightly nodded.

"Okay. I can't hold you and get my chin comfortable enough, so I made a choice." Santana said. Rachel was still for a moment, before she removed herself from Santana's embrace. She got off the bed and walked to the other bed in the room. Santana stared at her in confusion. "Rae, what's wrong?" Santana asked as Rachel got under the covers of the second bed.

"You can't get comfortable while holding me, and I'm not going to keep you awake seeing as we have to go home tomorrow." Rachel explained. Santana frowned.

"Oh that's right. We have to go home tomorrow. Goodbye safehaven." Santana said.

"Safehaven? You mean the place where Finn broke into our room in a fit of jealousy? The place where Finn almost broke your chin after we announced our relationship? Yea, this place is real safe." Rachel said. Santana smiled kindly and she stood up. She walked up to the second bed. Smiling at Rachel, she picked her up and carried her bridal style to the bed they had been using the entire trip and gently put her down in the spot she'd been sleeping in their entire stay in New York. She pulled Rachel back in her arms as she got back in the bed.

"What I _meant_ was the place where we were free to be us. No parents, no rules... _same bed_. " Santana added teasingly. Rachel laughed softly.

"San, I don't want to keep you up by making you uncomfortable." Rachel said. Santana grinned.

"Baby, there are plenty of ways you could be keeping me up that _aren't_ uncomfortable." Santana said.

"Santana Lopez!" Rachel said, trying to sound mad. The smile on her face gave her away, however, prompting Santana to lean down and kiss her.

"Rae, I'd rather be uncomfortable and have you in my arms than be uncomfortable and have you on the other side of the room. Let's face it. Chances are, I ain't gettin' comfortable tonight." Santana said. Rachel smiled again, but it quickly disappeared. "What's bothering you?" Santana asked.

"My uncle has a no dating rule at the restaraunt. It's company policy. No exceptions." Rachel said. Santana frowned.

"Damn." Santana swore under her breath. She looked at Rachel. "I can't quit. My parents said I have to keep the job for at least six months. And if it had been six months already, I don't want to quit. I like working there and now I have an even better incentive to go to work." Santana said. Rachel nodded.

"And I can't quit. That leads to an awkward weekly Sunday family dinner." Rachel said. Santana brushed some hair out of Rachel's face. "What are we gonna do, San?" Rachel asked.

"Okay. Here's how it's gonna go down. We aren't going to keep us a secret, _except_ at work. We'll show your uncle we can be extremely professional about this and keep our personal relationship out of the restaraunt. And after a while, maybe a couple of weeks, we'll have proven how responsible we are. We can do this. I think we can handle keeping our hands off each other during our shifts." Santana said. Rachel nodded.

"What about my dads? They'll want to tell him." Rachel said.

"Maybe we can convince them to keep it quiet for a couple of weeks?" Santana said. Rachel shrugged.

"Maybe _we _could keep it queit for a couple of weeks." Rachel said. Santana shook her head.

"No. Not happening. I'm _not_ hiding the best thing in my life." Santana said. Rachel smiled at her words.

"I don't want to hide this either, San. But we can't lose our jobs." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Then we're just going to have to be very, _very_ sneaky, aren't we Rae?" Santana whispered. Rachel shivered before nodding.

"Sneaky." she repeated. Santana nodded and leaned kissed Rachel softly.

"Sneaky. I think we can do it. We were sneaky for two weeks here." Santana said. Rachel nodded and and snuggled back into Santana's body. Rachel and Santana were both able to fall asleep. The next morning, Rachel and Santana began packing. Rachel had just placed a shirt in her bag when there was a knock on the door. Santana looked at Rachel with curious eyes before walking over to open the door. Her eyes widened as she saw the person on the other side. "St. James... what are you doing here?" Santana asked her girlfriend's ex-boyfriend.

"I'm here to speak with Rachel." Jesse said. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Look St. James. I've already kicked one of Rachel's ex-boyfriend's ass and I'll probably have to kick Puckerman's after he makes some perverted comment toward my girl. I'm not afraid to be three for three. I'd actually prefer it." Santana said. Jesse stared at her in confusion and Rachel walked up behind the pair.

"San, that won't be necessary. Jesse, come in." Rachel said, glaring at Santana. Jesse nodded and walked into the room.

"So Rachel, I wanted to talk to you about your big announcement from last night, concerning Santana and you." Jesse said. Rachel and Santana shared a look. "I think that..."

"You think _what_?" Santana asked. Rachel grabbed Santana's hand.

"I think that you shouldn't have hid this from me." Jesse said.

"What?" Rachel and Santana said.

"I mean, I could have had talked you out of it." Jesse said. Santana got in Jesse's face. "What do you want Santana?" Jesse asked.

"Shut the hell up." Santana said, threateningly. Jesse smirked.

"You don't want to mess with me." Jesse said.

"No, see, actually, I... I sorta do. See, I'm from a place called Lima Heights Adjacent. You know where that is, Schuester wannabe? It's on the wrong side of the tracks." Santana said, slapping both sides of Jesse's face. Swiftly, she brought her knee up. Santana jumped back as he fell down in pain. Santan turned around to see Rachel covering her mouth. Upon closer inspection, Santana saw that Rachel was holding back a laugh. Smiling, Santana turned back around and picked Jesse up by the arm. She pulled him out of the room. and closed the door. Turning around, she saw Rachel staring at her. "Hi." she whispered sheepishly. Slowly, Rachel walked toward Santana.

"That was really..." Rachel trailed off as she reached Santana. The Latina closed her eyes, bracing herself for a lecture on the evils of violence. Rachel placed a soft kiss on Santana before leaning up to whisper in her ear. "...hot." she whispered. Santana opened her eyes and grinned. She gently pushed the girl back toward the bed.

"We have an hour before we have to be downstairs..." Santana said. Rachel laughed and kissed her before pulling away.

"No." Rachel said, getting off the bed.

"Why?" Santana asked.

"I'm not ready to go that far with you yet.." Rachel said. Santana rolled her eyes.

"How did you get with Puckerman or Finn?" Santana asked.

"How far did _you_?" Rachel countered.

"Ooh good one." Santana said sarcastically. Rachel rolled her eyes. "This is insane. What are we doing?" Santana yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked. She began getting worried.

"This. What are we doing?" Santana answered.

"Are... are you breaking up with me?" Rachel asked. Santana's eyes widened.

"What? No, of course not." Santana said. Rachel nodded and Santana rushed over to Rachel, pulling her into a hug. "Baby, of course not." Santana whispered.

"What did you mean then?" Rachel asked.

"Why are we fighting? I don't even get it. I shouldn't be pushing you to do anything you don't want to do, and I _definitely_ shouldn't be bringing Finn and Puckerman into this conversation." Santana said. Rachel nodded. "I'm sorry, baby."

"It's okay. Let's just finish packing. Honey, I'm ready to go back to Lima." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Let's go home, sweetie." Santana said. Rachel nodded and the two resumed their packing. That afternoon, they got on the plane and went back to Lima. Santana hugged Rachel as they saw their respective parents "I'll call you tonight, baby." Santana whispered in her ear as they hugged.

"Santana?" Santana heard the voice of her father say behind her. Santana pulled away.

"_Papi!" _Santana said. Her father pulled her into a hug.

"Who's this?" her mother asked, giving Rachel a kind smile. Rachel waved shyly at the adults.

"I'm Rachel Berry." she said.

"Martin and Toby Berry's daughter?" Santana's father asked. Rachel nodded. "I golf with them. They're great guys. I've heard a lot of good things about you, Rachel." her father said.

"Rachel is... my... my..." Santana took a deep breath. "Rachel is my girlfriend, _Mami, Papi_." Santana said. Both girls held their breath as they carefully watched Santana's parents. Santana's father took a deep breath.

"Well, this certainly how we imagined you coming out to us." he said.

"Look, you don't to like that fact that I'm gay, but you do have to... Wait, you knew?" Santana asked. Her parents laughed.

"Sweetie, you're our daughter. Of course we knew." her mother said. Santana smiled. "Rachel, we'd love it if you'd come to dinner with us tonight." her mother requested.

"I'd love that too, but I'm sure her dads want to take her to dinner." Santana said.

"Ricky! Nina!" a voice from behind them said. They turned to see Rachel's fathers walking toward them.

"Dad! Daddy!" Rachel said, hugging her fathers.

"Hey sweetie." one of her fathers said. He looked up. "Who's this?" he asked, smiling at Santana. Rachel and Santana looked at each other.

"Santana... my girlfriend." Rachel said. She bit her lip, waiting for her fathers' reactions.

"Rae, are you sure about this? You know that you don't have to be gay just because we are." her other father said gently.

"I know, Daddy. I want to be with her." Rachel said.

"Then you have our undefying support." the black Mr. Berry said. He turned to Santana. "You can call me Mr. B., Santana." he said. Santana smiled and nodded.

"Martin, we were planning on taking Santana to dinner and we'd love it if you, Toby, and Rachel would join us." Ricky said.

"We'd love too." Toby replied. Rachel smiled at Santana, who immediately smiled back.

"This is going to be great." Santana whispered. Rachel eagerly nodded as Santana pulled her into another hug.


	9. Chapter 9

Santana and Rachel walked into Breadstix with their respective parents. "So, _Mami_, where's Alicia? Is she going to meet us here?" Santana asked. Ricky and Nina shared a look. Santana looked at them expectantly.

"_Mija_, Alicia isn't coming." Nina said. Santana looked down.

"Oh... okay. I... I get it." Santana said.

"Sweetie, she said she had an emergency basketball practice." Ricky said.

"_Papi_, basketball season ended in March. It's May." Santana said. Ricky looked at the Berrys who seemed to all be in confusion.

"Alicia is our younger daughter. She's a sophomore at McKinley and she was the youngest starter on the varsity basketball team." Ricky explained. Rachel suddenly remembered.

"That's right. I forgot that you and Alicia were sisters." Rachel said. Santana nodded sadly. "What's wrong?" Rachel whispered, grabbing Santana's hand. Santana shook her head in an '_I'll tell you later_' fashion. Rachel nodded and let the subject go for the time being.

"Sweetie, I'm sure it's just a one-time thing." Nina said.

"I doubt it. You know, suddenly, I'm not so hungry." Santana said.

"But sweetie, you love Breadstix." Ricky said. Santana shrugged.

"I'm not hungry." Santana said. She stood up and walked out of the resturaunt.

"Rachel, I'd think she'd rather it if you went after her." Ricky said. Rachel nodded and went after her girlfriend. She found her outside of the restaraunt, sitting on a bench.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked softly. Santana looked up.

"What do you want?" she asked. Rachel sat down next to her.

"To know what's going on? First mention of your sister and clam up. What's wrong San?" Rachel said.

"Alicia has barely talked to me since I quit Cheerios." Santana said.

"Okay..." Rachel said.

"You don't get it. That's around the time I started realiing who I really am." Santana said. Rachel bit her lip.

"So you're thinking that your sister hates you because your gay?" Rachel asked. Santana nodded. "How'd she even find out?" Rachel questioned.

"She heard me and Britt talking about it." Santana said. Rachel nodded. "I've tried talking to her about it, but she's blown me off every single time I try."

"San... she'll come around eventually." Rachel said.

"Rae, it's not that simple." Santana said.

"I'll help you through it." Rachel said. Santana smiled and allowed Rachel to hug her.

"Thanks Rae." Santana said. Rachel stood up and held out a hand.

"Come on. You love Breadstix." Rachel said. Santana smiled and took the hand offered to her. Rachel pulled her up off the bench and into a hug. "San... you're gonna be fine. And we have to report to work tomorrow." Santana nodded and grabbed Rachel's hand, leading her into the resturaunt. They smiled at the adults as they walked back the table.

"You okay, San?" Ricky asked. Santana nodded.

"I'm fine _Papi_." Santana said.

"_Mami? Papi?_ What are you doing here?" a voice asked. Santana looked up.

"Ali.." Santana said.

"S... you're home already? I had no idea." Alicia said. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Al, you knew we were going to pick up your sister. We invited you to come with us." Ricky said.

"Do you wanna join us, Alicia? We can make room for you." Nina said.

"No, that's okay. You guys have fun. I'll just see you at home." Alicia said.

"Hold up. Aren't you supposed to be at _emergency basketball practice_?" Santana asked.

"What are you talkking about? Basketball ended in..." Alicia trailed off, seeing her parents' expressions. "Right. Emergency basketball practice. It ended early." Alicia attempted to cover.

"We'll talk about this at home. Be home by eight to avoid furth punishment." Ricky said. Alicia nodded and left the restaraunt.

"I want to talk to her before you guys do. I have a few things to say to my darling sister." Santana said. Ricky raised an eyebrow. "_Papi_, trust me. You're gonna wanna stay out of this one. Imma be going _all_ Lima Heights on her." Santana said. Nina laughed.

"Sweetie, we don't live in Lima Heights. Your aunt, uncle, and cousins do. And we barely let you go to their house." Nina said. Santana's eyes widened.

"_Mami!_ Don't say that out loud! That's my fear tactic!" Santana whispered. Rachel convered her mouth to hide her laughter.

"Wait... you aren't actually from Lima Heights?" Rachel managed to get out between laughs. Nina shook her head.

"We live next door to the Fabrays, in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Lima. Santana likes to tell people she's from Lima Heights so she can maintain her tough girl persona and not let people know she's a rich, spoiled daddy's little girl." Nina said.

"Whatever. Carlos and Tito taught me enough to be able to go Lima Heights on somebody. And that includes Alicia." Santana said. Her mother narrowed her eyes. "but when I say I'm gonna go Lima Heights on Alicia, what I _really_ meant was I'm going to give her stern talking to like any good big sister." Santana said. Her mother rolled her eyes. Santana finished her meal in silence. As the two families went out to their cars, Santana pulled Rachel aside.

"I'm sorry dinner was kind of a fail, pretty girl." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"Don't worry about it rich girl." Rachel replied. Santana looked away, blushing. Rachel gently pulled her face back toward hers. "It's fine. Go home and talk to your sister. Text me and let me know how it goes." Rachel said. Santana's brow furrowed.

"You don't want me to call you?" Santana asked.

"After what you told me, you might be better of texting me." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"I'll call you." Santana promised. Rachel smiled. "Okay?" Santana asked.

"Okay." Rachel whispered. Santana nodded and kissed Rachel. "I'll see you tomorrow at work?" Rachel asked.

"At the crack of noon." Santana said, smiling. Rachel returned the smile and nodded. She leaned up and kissed Santana again. "Goodbye baby. Call you later." Santana said. Rachel nodded and went to her family's car. Santana smiled and went to her family's car. As she reached her house, anger returned to her body. The moment the car was parked in the driveway, Santana was out of the car and up the driveway "Alicia!" she yelled the moment the door was open. She stormed up the stairs and into her sister's bedroom.

"What do you want?" Alicia said.

"I want to know what the hell is going on with you." Santana said. Alicia was silent. "What the hell is your problem?" Santana yelled.

"My problem? My problem is _you_, Santana!" Alicia yelled.

"Why? Because I'm gay?" Santana asked. Alicia nodded her head. "Unbelievable. You are such a bitch sometimes. But worse? Right now you're being a _homophobic_ bitch. I'm happy, Ali. Ans it really sucks that you can't accept that." Santana said. She stormed out of the room and down the stairs. "She's all yours." she said to her parents as she passed through the lving room. She went out to her garage apartment bedroom that her parents had given her when she turned seventeen. She sighed in frustration and pulled out her cell.

Rachel sat in her bedroom, looking at pictures she and Santana had taken in New York. Mr. Schue had required them to go on bonding sight seeing trips with their roommates. She smiled at the pictures. Suddenly her phone rang.

**Incoming Call**

**San**

"Hey! How'd it go?" Rachel answered.

"Awful. I told you its because I'm gay." Santana said.

"Oh San, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Rachel asked.

"Am I okay? Hell no, I'm not okay. My sister is a homophobe. The person I have spent my entire life loving and protecting hates me because I'm finally being honest about who I am. I'm far from okay." Santana said.

Alicia climbed up the stairs to her sister's garage apartment. She overheard the last part of Santana's conversation with Rachel. She heard Santana crying and immediately felt terrible.

"Bye, Rae." she heard Santana say. Alicia took a deep breath and entered the apartment. It was now or never.


	10. Chapter 10

Alicia walked into her sister's garage apartment after her sister got off the phone. Santana looked up when she heard the door open and was about to yell at her mom for lack of knocking when she saw her little sister. "Alicia... what are you doing in here?" Santana asked.

"I wanted to talk to you... about earlier." Alicia said. Santana nodded and motioned for her to sit on Santana's bean bag chair. "I thought about what you said and you were right. I was being a bitch. Worse, I was being a homophobic bitch. I'm sorry. You're my sister and I want you to be happy. I just... I was hearing all these rumors and it was making me upset. I don't like it when people talk about you." Alicia said.

"Ali, I can handle the rumors. And that's exactly what they are. _Rumors_. Let me guess. Most of them involve Brittany and I, don't they?" Santana asked. Alicia nodded. "Guess what? I'm not with Britt. She's with Artie and she's happy." Santana said.

"Does Rachel make you happy?" Alicia asked. Santana started to nod, but stopped.

"How'd you know I'm with Rachel?" Santana asked. Alicia laughed.

"It was kinda obvious at Breadstix, S." Alicia said. Santana chuckled. "Plus, Mom said that I needed to treat Rachel with respect, since she's your girlfriend now." Alicia said. Santana laughed.

"You can always count on Mom to get to the point." Santana said. Alicia nodded. "Anyway, are we okay?" Santana asked.

"Yea, we're cool. Wanna hang out for a bit?" Alicia asked. Santana's face dropped.

"Al, I'd love to, but I have to work tomorrow." Santana said.

"With Rachel?" Alicia teased. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Shut up. And don't come to the restaraunt announcing my relationship with Rachel." Santana said.

"Why not? Are you guys keeping it a secret? Because if you are, you were doing an awful job at Breadstix." Alicia said.

"We have to keep quiet about it at the restaraunt. Her uncle has a no dating policy and we can't risk losing our jobs. We're gonna prove how responsible and mature we can be about it and then we'll tell him." Santana said. Alicia nodded.

"Ok... what time do you have to go to work?" Alicia asked.

"Noon... what time is it?" Santana asked.

"Almost nine." Santana smiled.

"What did you want to do?" Santana asked. The two stayed up until midnight watching stupid movies and joking around. Santana jumped when her alarm went off. "Oh crap. No." she said. She continued repeating the words.

"What's wrong?" Alicia asked, waking up.

"It's eleven fifteen. I slept through my alarm. I had set it for ten forty-five. I have to be at work in forty-five minutes!" Santana said. She ran to her bathroom, put on her makeup, and brushed her hair. "Get my uniform out of my closet!" she yelled out as she put her hair in a ponytail. She ran out of her bathroom, threw on her uniform, and grabbed her keys and wallet. "Okay, I have to go. I'll see you when I get off." Santana said, running out the door.

"San!" Alicia yelled. Santana turned around to see her sister holding her phone. She ran over and grabbed it.

"Thanks. I gotta go." Santana said, running out the door and jumping in her car. Driving off, she waved at her little sister. She drove as fast as she could without going over the speed limit. She arrived in the parking lot and parked her car. She looked at the clock on her radio and breathed a sigh of relief. "Eleven fifty. Thank God." She caught her breath and started to take off her seatbelt when she saw her favorite person parking a car. Smile on her face, she jumped out of her car, making her way over to her girlfriend's car. When the car was turned off, Santana opened Rachel's driver side door. "Hello there, pretty girl." Santana said. Rachel looked up and smiled weakly.

"Hey, rich girl. You seem happy." Rachel said, getting out of her car. Santana nodded.

"You don't. What's up?" Santana asked, closing the door.

"Nothing. I just had another nightmare last night. No big deal." Rachel said. Santana put a comforting hand on her arm.

"It _is_ a big deal. Are you okay?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded.

"I'm fine, San. Why are you so happy?" Rachel asked.

"After we hung up last night, Alicia came up to my room and we made up. We hung out last night and watched movies until like midnight." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"I'm so happy for you!" Rachel said. She started to lean in, but Santana pulled away. "Right, we're at the restaraunt. Crap." Rachel said.

"It's cool. Why don't we get together after work?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded.

"I'd love too, San. Let's go, we're gonna be late." Rachel said. Santana nodded. The two went into the restaraunt and clocked in. When Rachel attempted to tie her apron, Santana smirked and went up behind her.

"I got it." she whispered, tying the apron around the other girl's waist. Looking around, she leaned in and kissed the other girl's neck. "Mmm... I missed you." Santana said. Rachel smiled and turned her head into Santana's shoulder.

"We weren't even apart for a day." Rachel whispered. Santana smiled and nuzzled her face into Rachel's hair.

"You want to try and tell me that you didn't miss this?" Santana asked. Rachel turned around to answer, but a voice sprung them apart.

"Rachel?" Mr. Spring said. Rachel cleared her throat and avoided eye contact with Santana.

"Yea, Uncle Trevor?" Rachel said. Her uncle turned the corner.

"There you two are. It's almost time for opening. Get out there." Trevor said. Rachel and Santana nodded. "Are you two are okay?" he asked, looking suspicious.

"Yes sir." Santana said. Trevor looked at them for a second before nodding.

"All right, just get to work." Trevor said. Santana nodded and the two smirked at each other before going out into the main room. While Santana was waiting tables, she kept sneaking looks over at Rachel. She couldn't help but think about how hot Rachel looked. She wanted no more than to go over and kiss Rachel, but even if they were out to her uncle, she couldn't do that. She smirked to herself and went to go get one of her orders. As she passed Rachel she leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Rae, you are so freaking hot right now. I'm probably gonna need a cold shower soon." she whispered. Rachel's eyes widened and she turned around.

"Santana, I'm trying to work. If you'd be as kind as to quit disturbing me, then that'd be great." Rachel said. Santana narrowed her eyes and saw tiny smile on Rachel's face. Santana turned around with a smirk and went to go get the food for her table. After she gave her table the food, she went to put the tray back. Rachel cornered her after she put the tray back. "What do you want Rachel?" Santana asked, smirking. Rachel leaned up to Santana's ear.

"You think _I'm_ hot? Look in a mirror." Rachel said.

"Really?" Santana said, smirking.

"Mmhmm." Rachel said.

"Huh... than maybe we can take a cold shower together." Santana said. Rachel playfully rolled her eyes.

"Baby, if we take a shower together, it _won't_ be cold." Rachel flirted. Santana raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds fun." Santana said. Rachel smiled and Santana leaned in for a kiss. "You're amazing, Rae." Santana said.

"Yea, I know." Rachel said. Santana laughed and kissed her girlfriend again.

"Rachel? Santana?" Trevor said. They broke apart and looked up to see their boss looking at them. Rachel bit her lip, looked down, and turned around so that her face was buried in Santana's shoulder.

"Kill me now." Rachel moaned. Santana looked down at her girlfriend before looking up and smiling sheepishly at Trevor.

"I'm guessing now isn't a good time to ask for a raise?" Santana tried to joke. Rachel reached up and hit her shoulder. "Ow." she muttered. Trevor shook his head.

"You two. My office. _Now_." Trevor said. Santana nodded and tried to turn Rachel around.

"Rachel come on." Santana said. Rachel shook her head.

"No."

"Rachel go."

"No."

"_Rae_!" Santana hissed. Rachel sighed.

"Fine." Rachel said, turning around. She avoided her uncle's gaze and went the office.


	11. Chapter 11

Santana and Rachel hung their heads as they walked into Trevor's office. He shut the door quietly and sat down in the chair at his desk. He gestured for the two girls to sit down in the chairs in front of his desk. They quietly sat down. Neither girl looked at Trevor or at each other. They just looked at their hands. Trevor cleared his throat. Slowly, both girls lifted their heads to look at the man in front of them. "Santana. Rachel. I'd like to discuss what happened out there." Trevor said. Rachel nodded.

"Uncle Trevor, Santana and I are... well, we're dating." Rachel said. Trevor nodded.

"Well, that's reassuring. At least I know you aren't just making out in my resturaunt." Trevor said. Rachel snuck a look at Santana, before looking back at her uncle. "But right now, I'm not your boss, Rach. I'm your uncle. When you left, you two couldn't stand each other. Now you're back from Nationals and you're _dating_?" Trevor asked. Rachel nodded. "What happened?" he asked. Santana spoke up.

"Sir, Rachel and I realized that we have a lot more in common than we thought and we get along really well, so we decided to try dating each other." Santana said. Trevor raised an eyebrow. "I... I really like your niece, sir. I want... I want to be able to protect her. I want to be able to make her happy. I want to be able to make her feel special. I want to be able to be the one to put a smile on her face when she's upset. I want to be able to cheer her up after someone upsets her and then go beat the hell out of whoever upset her. I just want to be with her." Santana continued. Trevor nodded.

"Rachel?" Trevor asked.

"I care about Santana. I _like _her. She makes me feel safe. She makes me feel like I'm worth caring about. She makes me care about something other than myself. She calls me out when I'm focusing on me rather than the team, which I really like. She helped me realize that there are bigger things out there than myself. She makes me take down my defenses and stop assuming everyone is out to get me. I should think that she's just trying to play me and set me up for some extremely cruel practical joke, but I don't. I believe that she _genuinely_ cares about me. She helps me when I get my nightmares. She makes me feel better when I get them. She lets me talk about them when I want to and just holds me when I don't. She even protected me from Finn when he went crazy while we were in New York." Rachel said. Santana smiled softly at Rachel. Rachel reached over and grabbed Santana's hand. Trevor cleared his throat.

"Rach, I'm happy that you've found someone who makes you feel that way. You _know_ that. But I have a dating policy in this restaraunt. And I can't very well lift the policy for you and Santana, and not anyone else. Family or not." Trevor said. Rachel squeezed Santana's hand. Santana sighed and stood up.

"Sir, I know that I can't stop you from enforcing your rules. But I also know that I can't stop seeing Rachel. So I guess what I'm trying to say is... I... I quit, Mr. Spring." Santana said.

"No." Rachel squeaked. She stood up. "San, you can't do this. It's not fair to you." Rachel said.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you quit and I _won't _stop seeing you. I don't _want_ to stop seeing you. I'll just have to take whatever lecture my parents give me for not sticking to my commitments, when I'm actually sticking to the most important comittment I've ever made in my life." Santana said. Rachel looked at Santana and slightly smiled.

"Sweetie, I can't let you do that." Rachel said softly. Santana lifted an index finger to Rachel's lips.

"Shhh. Baby, it's okay. I'm doing this for _us_." Santana said. Rachel shook her head.

"I can't let you do that, San. I know how much you love this job." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Too late." she whispered. Rachel shook her head again. "Rae, I'm doing this. If it means I can be with you, if it means we can be together, then I'm doing it." Santana said. Trevor watched the exchange. He hated seeing Rachel upset and he didn't really want to have to let Santana go.

"San, I'm not going to let you quit." Trevor said. Santana looked over at him.

"I'm sorry?" Santana asked, confused.

"You're one of our best waitresses and I can see how much you love working here, even if we aren't Breadstix." Trevor said. Santana smiled. "And I can see how happy you make my niece. How about this. I'll remove the dating policy. For everyone. Just keep it on the down low around here and stay on top of your work. I am running a business and I'd like to _stay_ in business." Trevor said. Rachel and Santana both nodded. "Good. Now get back to work. I'm not paying you two to hang around in here." Santana and Rachel smiled before going back to the main room and getting back to work. Trevor smiled as his office door closed.

"Well, Rae, it looks like we _both _get to keep our jobs. And you do know what that means, right?" Santana asked.

"What?" Rachel replied.

"It means that I get to see more of my favorite girl. I was almost worried, because summer is coming up and I won't be able to see you in school or in Glee rehersals." Santana said. Rachel smiled hugged Santana, who gladly returned the hug.

"I can't believe you were going to do that for me." Rachel said.

"I'd do anything for you, Rachel." Santana said. Rachel smiled. "Aw crap. We've been together two weeks and you're already turning me soft." Santana said. Rachel grinned.

"Don't worry. You're still my badass." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Hmmm... you know, I kind of like the sound of that." Santana said.

"Oh really?" Rachel asked. Santana smirked.

"Mmhmm." she said before kissing Rachel.

"So do I." Rachel whispered.

"Awesome." Santana whispered back. She and Rachel stared at each other with stupid grins. "Come on. Let's get back to work." Santana said. Rachel nodded.


	12. Chapter 12

Alicia and Santana pulled into the William McKinley High School student parking lot. "So let me get this straight. You didn't even make it an hour into your shift before you blew your secret _and_ your vow to be responsible while at work?" Alicia asked, laughing.

"Shut up. It was just so... _clanestine_. It was hot. I couldn't resist." Santana said. Alicia smirked.

"Whoa. Clandestine. That's a big word, S. Did Mom buy you a new word of the day calendar?" Alicia teased her older sister.

"Shut up you little brat or you can walk to school from now on. Now get out of my car." Santana said with a playful grin. Her grin turned into a genuine smile when she saw who's car was parked next to her. Rachel was leaning against the hood of her car, smiling. Santana went over and hugged Rachel. "Hey pretty girl. How was the rest of your night?" Santana asked. Rachel smirked.

"Relatively good... I've been meaning to ask you, how do you expect to keep up your tough girl, 'I'm Santana. I'm from Lima Heights Adjacent. I can kick your ass.' facade if you're driving a brand new 2011 Camaro convertible?" Rachel asked. Santana turned slightly to look at her electric blue Camaro convertible. She turned back and smiled at her girlfriend.

"Loving, doting grandfather. And you're one to talk Ms. I Drive A Porsche." Santana said. Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I'm not the one who pretends I'm from one of the poorest and most dangerous parts of Lima." Rachel said.

"Hey, it's a fear tactic. I gots to be able to protect my girl." Santana said. Rachel smiled. Santana lowered her voice. "Did you sleep okay last night?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded.

"Yes, I did aside from the fact that I'm still used to having you right there with me." Rachel said. Santana smiled and Alicia walked up.

"Ready to go in?" Alicia asked, smiling at Rachel. Both girls nodded and Rachel walked between the two sisters. As they were about to reach the front doors to the school, Santana was about to reach for Rachel's hand. Before she could, icy blue liquid was tossed their way. Santana and Alicia jumped out of the way. The slushie found its intended target, hitting Rachel directly in the face. Santana's jaw dropped.

"Oh my god. Are you okay?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded slightly. "Stay here." Santana said, whipping around to find the offender. "Azimio! Stay the hell away from her. She's off limits, clear?" The boy stared at her in confusion.

"I didn't do anything Lopez." Azimio said. Santana turned to Karofsky.

"Was it you?" she asked. Karofsky shook his head. "Well then who the hell was it?" Santana asked. Karofsky pointed at someone behind her and Santana turned around to see Brittany with an extra large slushie cup in her hand. Santana could see blue liquid dripping down the sides of the cup. "Britts?" Santana asked softly. She walked over to the girl. "Why did you do that?" Santana asked.

"Because she's with you. That's supposed to me. I'm the one you're supposed to come out for." Brittany whispered.

"You chose Artie. Did you expect to wait around until you broke up with him, when there was a distinct possibility that you wouldn't?" Santana asked. Brittany nodded. "Britt, that's not fair." Santana said.

"Well, its not fair that Rachel gets to have you. She's not even into girls." Brittany said. Santana looked over and noticed that Alicia had taken Rachel into the nearest bathroom to clean her up.

"Look, what isn't fair is what you just did. You shouldn't have done that. I said I love you. You said you love Artie. I moved on. End of story. Don't go around bullying Rachel because you're upset that you lost me in that way. Now, I'll still be your best friend, but if you pull another stunt like that, it's gonna go down. Clear?" Santana said. Brittany stared at her.

"I'm not giving you up just like that." Brittany said.

"Well, you're not bullying Rachel. You want to slushie someone, then slushie me. But I mean it, Britt. You slushie her again, we'll have a problem, okay?" Santana said. Brittany shrugged and walked off without another word. Santana sighed and went into the bathroom. She saw Alicia cleaning her up with a wet paper towel. "I got, Al. Thanks." Santana said. Alicia nodded and left the restroom. "Are you okay, Rae?" Santana asked, cleaning Rachel off. Rachel nodded. "I'm so sorry about that." Santana said.

"Why did Brittany do that?" Rachel asked softly.

"Me and Britts had a thing once... I... I loved her, but when I told her she chose Artie over me. I guess she didn't want me to move on." Santana said. Rachel nodded and put a hand on Santana's.

"Am I just a rebound?" Rachel asked quietly.

"No. No, I wouldn't do that to you." Santana said.

"Are you still in love with her?" Rachel asked in the same volume.

"No. I'm completely over her." Santana said, biting her lip. Rachel noticed the action.

"Santana, please don't lie to me." Rachel said. Santana bowed her head.

"Okay, I'm not _completely_ over her, but I'm almost there. I've got you and I wouldn't trade that for anything." Santana said. Rachel nodded and allowed Santana to resume wiping the slushie off. When all the slushie was gone, Santana reached in Rachel's bag and pulled out her extra clothes. "Go ahead and change. I'll wait for you." Santana said. Rachel ducked into the stall to change her clothes. "I'm sorry that Brittany did that." Santana said.

"Don't worry about it." Rachel said through the stall.

"I told her that if she does it again, we're gonna have a problem. I'm not gonna let crap like that happen. It's not going to happen to you. Britts may be my best friend, but she's not going to get away with treating you like that." Santana said. Rachel opened the stall door and smiled at Santana.

"I don't want you jeapordizing your friendship for me." Rachel said.

"She's already put it in jeapordy. She did that the moment she bought that slushie and threw it in your face. You're number one on my list. That means no one gets to mess with you." Santana said.

"Brittany used to be number one, didn't she?" Rachel asked softly. Santana nodded.

"But that's your spot now. Ain't nobody gonna take it away from you, Rae. That's how it is." Santana said.

"You're really hot when you're protective." Rachel said. Santana smirked and shrugged.

"Girl, you know how I do." Santana said. Rachel smiled at her girlfriend before doing her makeup in the mirror. Santana smiled at the sight. "So... I'm not exactly sure if we're out. I mean, I don't know if anyone figured it out and who knows if Britt's going to say anything." Santana said. Rachel turned to look at her.

"I thought we weren't going to hide it." Rachel said.

"We aren't. It's just when I imagined us coming out, I kinda figured we'd be the ones to out ourselves." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"Either way, as long as I have you, I'm good." Rachel said. Santana smiled and grabbed Rachel's hand.

"I love seeing this side of you, Rae." Santana said. Rachel gave her a confused smile.

"What side of me?" Rachel asked.

"This down to Earth girl. You're not like that in front of everyone." Santana said. Rachel smiled. "You should let everyone see this side of you." Santana said.

"I'll try that." Rachel said. She finished up her makeup. "So you ready to start our first day of school as an out couple?" Rachel asked, reaching for her girlfriend's hand. Santana smiled and grabbed Rachel's hand.

"Bring it." Santana said.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: The Santana and Rachel mashup names are based off the ones from Chapter 105 of purrpickle's story Pieces.**

* * *

><p>Santana was dying. She hadn't seen Rachel since they'd parted for first period that morning. It was now lunch. She sat at a table with Quinn, Mercdes, Kurt, Mike, and Tina. Her eyes kept darting from her food to the entrance to the cafeteria. "Where is Rachel?" Santana wondered out loud. Mike shrugged and Quinn grinned.<p>

"What's the matter, S? Can't deal with being apart from your lover?" Quinn teased. Santana smiled.

"Well, at least _one_ of my best friends is happy for me." Santana said.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"Britt slushied Rachel this morning." Santana explained. Quinn raised an eyebrow.

"Brittany? Sweet Brittany?" Quinn asked. Santana nodded.

"Yep." Santana said.

"But that doesn't make any sense." Mercedes said.

"Yea. Britt loves Rachel." Kurt said. Santana shrugged and started to say something when her eyes met the door. Rachel walked into the cafeteria. Santana instantly smiled, before noticing something was off and frowned as Rachel sat down.

"Hey San." Rachel said, smiling at Santana. Santana smiled back.

"Hey Rae." Santana said, leaning in. Quinn, Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, and Mike jokingly made sick noises. Santana turned and glared at them. "Hey. If I wants to mack on my girl, then I will." Santana said before kissing Rachel.

_FLASHBACK_

_Santana and Rachel walked out of the bathroom hand in hand. Santana walked Rachel to her class and only let go of her hand when they reached the door. "So I'll see you later?" Santana whispered, wrapping her arms around Rachel's waist. Rachel nodded and hooked her arms around Santana's neck._

_"See you at lunch." Rachel whispered. Santana smiled before leaning in to kiss Rachel. She pulled away when she heard the confused voices of their schoolmates. _

_"Don't you losers have anything better to do than to gawk at me and my girl? Get to steppin'!" Santana yelled. Rachel chuckled and grabbed Santana's chin, gently pulling her head around to face Rachel again. "Right. Sorry." Santana whispered. Rachel offered her a smile. __"Lunch." Santana said._

_"Lunch." Rachel repeated, kissing Santana again before going into her classroom._

_END FLASHBACK_

"So, Rae, how's your day been so far?" Santana asked. Rachel shrugged.

"Eh... uneventful." Rachel said. Santana nodded and started a conversation with Quinn while keeping a hand on Rachel's thigh. '_Wow... Santana is _really _unobservant.'_ Rachel thought. Santana finished her sentence before looking over at Rachel again.

"So... who slushied you?" Santana asked, trying to sound as calm as possible. Rachel looked over with wide eyes.

"Took you long enough to notice." Rachel said.

"Oh, I noticed the second you walked into the cafeteria wearing a different outfit than the one you changed into earlier. I was just waiting to see if you'd tell me. You didn't, which prompts me to believe that it was Britt." Santana said. Rachel was silent. "Was it her?" More silence. "Rachel, don't lie to me. Was it Brittany?" Santana asked. Rachel hesitated. "Rae..." Santana said.

"Fine! Yes, it was Brittany. Again. I just didn't want to tell you, because I knew you'd get mad and I don't want you to go and end your friendship with Brittany like you said." Rachel said. Santana sighed and took Rachel's face in her hands gently.

"Listen, we need to get one thing clear. _You're_ number one on my list of people to worry about and protect. That means, if anyone messes with you, then you need to come straight to me and tell me so that I can help you, okay?" Santana said. Rachel nodded. Santana looked up and saw Brittany leaving the cafeteria. "Okay. Now if you'll excuse me for a second, I'll be back to walk you to Geography." Santana said. She kissed Rachel before getting up and running out of the cafeteria. "Brittany!" she yelled. Brittany turned around. "What the hell did I say about bullying Rachel?" Santana asked.

"And I told you that I wasn't giving up that easily." Brittany said.

"If you want to keep me as a friend, leave Rachel alone." Santana said. Rachel came into the hallway and turned the corner, practically running into the arguing friends.

"San? Are you o...kay?" Rachel asked, looking up from her phone and seeing Brittany. Santana gave Brittany a warning look before looking back at Rachel with a small smile.

"Yea, I'm good, Rae. Why don't you go back into the caf? Brittany and I were just talking." Santana said. Rachel nodded. "Right Britt?" Santana said with a pointed glare. Brittany sighed and looked down. Santana looked down and saw Brittany holding another cup filled with a slushie. "Britt... don't do it." Santana said. Brittany looked at Santana, looked over at Rachel, before looking back at Santana. "Brittany... I'm warning you." Santana said. Brittany hesitated.

"S... I can break up with Artie. I'll do it. We can be together now. I'll do it... I want to be with you." Brittany said. Rachel bit her lip and looked at Santana.

"Not Artie?" Santana asked. Rachel looked down. Brittany smirked internally and shook her head.

"Only you." Brittany said. Santana looked down.

"Britt..." Santana said. Rachel took a step back.

"Actually, I think I _am_ going to head back into the caf. I'll see you guys later." Rachel said. She started to walk away, but Santana grabbed her arm.

"Hold up Berry. You need to calm yourself and listen to this piece of news I'm about to throw your way, clear?" Santana said, Rachel looked at her and Santana saw the hurt and pain in her eyes. Brittany smiled. Santana reached over and hugged Brittany. "Thank you for telling me that, Britt." Santana said. Rachel looked down. "But I don't like you that way anymore. I don't want to be with you like that anymore. I'll always love you, but... more like a friend. I'm sorry." Brittany's jaw dropped in shock.

"But... S... We're perfect for each other. We're Brittany and Santana..." Brittany stuttered.

"Not anymore. I'm with Rachel now." Santana said. Rachel looked up.

"But we're _Brittana_!" Brittany exclaimed. Santana bit her lip and shook her head and grabbed Rachel's hand.

"Britt, I'm sorry. But I'm on team..." Santana thought. "Team... Lochel...no... Sa... Sanchel... uh... Pez... chel... no wait... Lopez... Berry... Lo... berry... ugh... wait... Pez... berry... Pezberry. There we go. I'm on team Pezberry now, Britt." Santana said, pulling Rachel closer. "And I want you to _back off_." Santana said. Brittany shook her head.

"I'm sorry S. I can't do that." Brittany said. She lifted her cup and started the motion to throw the slushie in Rachel's face.

"Britt, don't." Santana yelled, pulling Rachel into her body in an attempt to shield her from the cold drink. Both girls were showered in cold, purple liquid. "Ah! God dammit! Britt, you _know _I hate grape!" Santana yelled.

"You weren't supposed to jump in!" Brittany yelled back.

"Well, what the hell did you expect me to do when your throwing a slushie in my girlfriend's face?" Santana asked. She let go of Rachel and got in Brittany's face. "What did I tell you about bullying Rachel? I said if you slushie her again, we're gonna have a problem. Well guess what? We have a problem!" Santana yelled. Rachel came over and pulled Santana back. The furious Latina tried to escape her girlfriend's grip and move back.

"Santana! The longer you wait, the harder it will be to get the slushie out!" Rachel said. Santana looked at Rachel. The smaller brunette silently pleaded with her eyes and Santana gave in and nodded.

"Okay." she whispered. Santana allowed Rachel to pull her in the direction of the nearest bathroom. Brittany's voice pulled her back.

"San, it'll never work out! You always said you wanted someone who you didn't have to protect from the masses! At least with me, the masses already respect us! Oh my god! Dump the loser already!" Brittany yelled. Rachelo looked down. Santana turned around.

"Don't you get it? We're all losers! Everyone in this damn town is a loser!" Santana said.

"Well, Rachel is an even bigger loser." Brittany said. Santana laughed sarcastically.

"Great comeback." Santana said as she walked back to Brittany.

"Santana!" Rachel protested. Santana ignored as she got back in Brittany's face.

"We're through." Santana said. Brittany looked at her in shock.

"What?" Brittany asked.

"You and me? We're done!" Santana yelled. She turned around and walked back to Rachel, pulling her into the bathroom. She grabbed some paper towels and ran them under warm water. She went over to Rachel and started wiping the slushie off.

"What about you?" Rachel asked. Santana shrugged. Rachel stepped around Santana and grabbed some more paper towels, wet them, and started cleaning Santana off as well. "Are you okay?" Rachel asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Santana asked.

"You just broke up with your best friend." Rachel said.

"She insulted you. It pissed me off. Ergo, friendship is over." Santana said.

"You just ditched your best friend of many years for a two week old relationship. _Ergo_, you're gonna resent me soon." Rachel said.

"I'm not gonna resent you. We're good, Rae." Santana smirked as she leaned down and kissed some of the ice off Rachel's neck.

"I thought you hated grape." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"It's not so bad when it's on you." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"So... Pezberry?" Rachel asked.

"What do you think?" Santana asked.

"I love it. You'd never know you came up with it on the spot." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"So you want to finish cleaning up?" Santana asked with a sly smile.

"Yes. But in a productive manner that _won't_ leave me with a hickey." Rachel said. Santana frowned. "Santana..." Rachel warned.

"Fine. I won't leave a _huge_ hickey." Santana said.

"San." Rachel said. Santana laughed.

"I'm kidding baby. Let's get cleaned up. First let me text Q and tell her to bring our stuff." Santana said. Rachel smiled and kissed Santana.


	14. Chapter 14

After school, Rachel and Santana went to the chor room hand in hand. Rachel paused in the doorway Santana to run into her. "Ow! Dammit, Rachel." Santana said. She looked up from the text message she was typing with the hand that wasn't holding onto Rachel and saw Rachel frozen to her spot. "Rae? What's wrong?" Santana asked. Rachel shook her head. "Since when are you afraid to go in the choir room?" Santana asked.

"Brittany." Rachel whispered, tightening her grip on Santana's hand. Santana grimaced in pain.

"Okay... ow. Ow! _Ow_! Rachel, You're hurting me and I'm pretty sure that you're cutting off my circulation." Santana said. Rachel remained standing still and gripping strongly gripping Rachel's hand. "Dammit! Rae, let _go_!" Santana said. Rachel looked over and saw Santana's face covered in pain.

"Oh... sorry sweetie." Rachel said, letting go of Santana's hand.

"Thank you. Now why can't you go in the choir room?" Santana asked, pulling Rachel closer and backing up so that Rachel was pinned against the locker and Santana was covering her.

"Brittany is in there." Rachel said.

"Baby, you can't let Brittany dictate your practice schedule, considering how much it means to you." Santana said.

"I don't feel like practicing, Santana." Rachel said. Santana raised an eyebrow.

"Rae, you always feel like practicing. Look, Brittany won't mess with you. The only thing she's capable of doing is throwing a slushie and she's not going to do that with Mr. Schue in the room." Santana said. Rachel smiled softly.

"You're going to protect me?" Rachel asked. Santana smiled.

"Of course I am. I've got your back, Rae." Santana said. Rachel nodded. "Let's go in there." Santana said, leaning down to kiss Rachel. However, Rachel turned her face. "What the hell?" Santana asked.

"I don't think we should do that considering what happened during lunch." Rachel said. Santana sighed. "San, she's your best friend." Rachel said.

"She was my best friend. She ruined our friendship the moment she started bullying you. You're my best friend now." Santana said. Rachel smiled. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." Santana continued. Rachel's smile grew wider and Santana reached down and grabbed Rachel's hand. "Now come on. Let's go inside." Santana said Rachel nodded and they walked inside. Rachel avoided Brittany's gaze as they went to sit down. Santana, however, looked Brittany right in the eye. She gave her the most disgusted look she could muster as she went to sit next to Rachel. Santana was completely cruel, so she refrained from kissing Rachel and play fighting with her girlfriend like they normally did. Rachel looked over at Santana. "I'm not a _complete_ bitch." Santana said. Rachel nodded and turned her attention to the front of the room as Mr. Schue walked in with Finn. Finn walked over and stood in front of Rachel. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Mr. Schue, what's this giant freak show doing in front of my girlfriend?" Santana asked, forgetting what she had just said and pulled Rachel closer to her.

"Santana..." Mr. Schue said.

"Hell no! Rachel _doesn't _want Finn near her. He broke into our hotel room in New York! He kept pursuing her even though she told him it was over!" Santana yelled.

"Santana!" Mr. Schue said.

"He hit my girlfriend. I don't want him near me." Rachel said.

"Can I say something?" Finn asked.

"No." Santana said.

"Please." Finn pleaded quietly. Rachel looked at Santana.

"It's up to you." Santana said. Rachel hesitated before nodding.

"You have two minutes." Rachel said.

"Rachel, I'm sorry for what happened in New York. I shouldn't have been so persistent and I shouldn't have broken into your hotel room. And I'm sorry for pushing Santana." Finn said.

"Don't apologize to _me_ for that one. I'm not the one you pushed." Rachel said. Finn sighed.

"Sorry Santana." Finn mumbled. Santana raised an eyebrow.

"Yea... I can really tell." Santana said. Rachel grabbed her hand. "Is that it Hudson?" Santana asked. Finn nodded slightly. "You have something else to say. I can tell." Santana said.

"You don't want to hear what I have to say." Finn said. Rachel's eyes narrowed.

"I want to Finn." Rachel said. Finn nodded.

"Rachel, I really think that you and I are meant to be togehter. Why can't you see that?" Finn asked. Santana jumped up and grabbed his neck.

"You know, you were right. I _didn't _want to hear that. Now, I'm going to tell you _one more time_. Stay away from my girlfriend." Santana warned.

"And if I don't?" Finn asked. Santana smiled evilly.

"How much can you enjoy your summer if you spend it unconcious in a hospital bed?" Santana asked.

"Can you honestly say you love her more than I do?" Finn asked.

"Yes!" Santana yelled, eyes widening when she realized what she said. Everyone in the room gasped. Santana turned to see Rachel with her jaw completely agape. '_Damn it._' Santana thought. "I mean I don't know if I love her... I mean who really knows what love is?" Santana asked. Unfortunately for her, the entire Glee Club spoke up.

"When you'll do anything for the person." Quinn said.

"When all you want to do is spend time with them." Kurt said.

"When you want to do random things just to see them smile." Mercedes said.

"When anything you see reminds you of them." Artie said.

"When you have trouble concentrating when they aren't around." Tina said.

"When you'll drop anything you're doing the second they call you." Mike said.

"When all you want to do is protect them from any harm." Sam said.

"When you can admit your whipped." Puck said.

Santana nodded. '_Damn it. Those all describe how I feel._' she stood completely still as she heard Rachel's voice. "When you put them above everyone and everything." Rachel said quietly. Santana stared at the girl and knew it. '_I'm in love with Rachel Berry. How the hell did I go from hating her to loving her in two and a half weeks?'_ Santana thought. Santana slowly walked over to Rachel and took her hands.

"What's going on with you?" Rachel asked quietly.

"I... I think I might love you." Santana whispered.

"We've only been together for a few weeks." Rachel said. Santana nodded.

"I know... but... I want all those things. Hell, I _feel _all those things. Rae, I'll do anything for you. I want to spend every free moment of my time with you. I would do anything to make you smile, including little random surprises that used to make me want to throw up but now just make me smile when I think about how happy they would make you and how special you'd feel. Everytime I see anything gold or a cut out of a star or a music note, I think of you. Whenever I hear the word Broadway, I think of you. Even when I don't hear or see those things, random things make me think of you. I'll walk into a store and see something. The first thought that will come to my mind is 'I wonder if Rachel would like that' or 'Hey Rachel has something like that.' In the classes we don't share, I find myself having trouble paying attention because I'm thinking about you. If you were to call me, I'd come running even if I was busy. And you know what? I will _always_ protect you from _anything_ that would possibly be harmful to you or that could possibly wipe that adorable smile off of your face. You'll always come before everyone and everything. You'll always be number one. And if that makes me whipped, then I'm whipped. And I am happy to admit it. Rach, you already have me wrapped around your finger after two and a half weeks." Santana said. Rachel smiled softly. "Rachel Berry, I... I love you." Santana said. Rachel stood there in silence for a m oment. Santana took that as a sign of hesitation on the shorter girl's part. "Please say you love me back. If you don't, then I'll have totally made a fool out of myself and it'll probably break my heart." Santana whispered. Rachel stood still, absorbing the information. Santana nodded and backed away, holding back tears. "It's okay. Forget I said anything. I... I have to go." Santana said. Those words brought Rachel back to reality. She reached out and grabbed Santana's arm.

"San, wait." Rachel said.

"I can't do this right now, Rachel. Can you just break up with me later?" Santana requested quietly. Rachel shook her head.

"Why would I break up with the girl I'm in love with?" Rachel asked. Santana looked up from the ground.

"You love me?" Santana whispered. Rachel smiled and nodded. "You love me." Santana repeated to herself.

"Why is that so hard to believe, Santana?" Rachel asked, quietly laughing.

"Well... you didn't... you didn't say anything the entire time I was speaking." Santana said, trying to stop the tears falling. Rachel reached up and wiped the tears.

"You looked so adorable when you were talking and it was so sweet. I wanted to hear everything you had to say." Rachel said. Santana smiled through her tears. "I love you, Santana Lopez." Rachel said.

"I love you too." Santana whispered, hugging Rachel. "I love you so much." Santana whispered in her ear. Rachel hugged back. When Santana pulled away, she saw Rachel crying as well. "What's wrong?" Santana asked.

"I'm just so happy." Rachel whispered. Santana smiled and then looked around.

"Damn." Santana whispered.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Everyone saw me cry." Santana said. Rachel and everyone but Finn and Brittany started laughing.

"We won't tell anyone, S." Quinn said.

"Yea, you better not." Santana threatened. Rachel smiled and leaned into Santana's body. Santana smiled and looked down at her girlfriend. '_I love you.' _Rachel mouthed. Santana's smile grew wider. '_I love you._' Santana mouthed. Rachel leaned up and kissed Santana.

"Okay, so I hate to break up the moment, but can we get to work?" Mr. Schue asked.

"What do we have to do? The season is over." Kurt said.

"Right. Well, I just wanted to end the season with a practice of an on the spot duets competitions. You're all going to pick a name out of the hat and you're going to sing a duet with them." Mr. Schue said. They all nodded. Santana was the first to choose a name.

"...Brittany." Santana said quietly. She shared a look with Rachel. Mr. Schue nodded and passed the hat to Rachel.

"...Finn." Rachel said.

"Mr. Schue, can we switch the groups. This isn't a good idea." Santana said.

"No. It's just for one rehearsal, Santana." Mr. Schue said. Santana sighed and grabbed Rachel's hand.

"It'll be all right." Rachel said. Santana nodded. "Just look at me the entire time you're singing and I'll do the same." Rachel said. Santana nodded again. "Just remember that I love you, not Finn." Rachel continued. Santana smiled back at Rachel.

"And I love you, not Brittany." Santana whispered.

"We'll be okay." Rachel whispered


	15. Chapter 15

First up to sing were Santana and Brittany. They sang _Teenage Dream _and Santana's eyes never left Rachel's. Rachel smiled at her girlfriend throught the entire song and Santana smiled back. When it was Rachel and Finn's turn, Santana alternated between smiling sweetly at Rachel and glaring at Finn. Despite Rachel's protests, they sang _Don't You Want Me_ and it was all Santana could do not to jump up and rip out his jugular. Rachel's eyes never left Santana's and her smile grew wider every time the Latina looked her way. When the song ended, Rachel immediately went back to her seat before Finn could say anything to her. When Finn looked as if he was about to say something to her, Rachel scooted her chair closer to Santana, hoping to create some type of forcefield from the boy. Santana sent a heated glare his way and put an arm around Rachel as they watched the rest of the pairs perform. Santana rolled her eyes when Mr. Schue announced that it was a tie between all of them. Santana and Rachel walked to the parking lot together.

"I assume you didn't like the result of the so-called competition?" Rachel asked. Santana rolled her eyes.

"That wasn't a damn competition. That was just an end of the season singing day. Competition involves a winner, not a six-way tie. That wasn't a competition." Santana said, sighing as they walked. Rachel smiled.

"I know how much you love competition." Rachel said. Santana looked down at her.

"Not when it's for you. I'm not competitng against Finn. I won't do it." Santana said. Rachel stopped walking and grabbed Santana's hand.

"You don't have to." Rachel assured her. Santana smiled slightly before kissing Rachel.

"My parents want you to come over for dinner. Are you free?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded. "Cool. Uh... I'll follow you to your house and then you can drop off your car and I'll drive you back to my house." Santana said.

"That's a huge waste of gas, Santana." Rachel said.

"I know, but I have a surprise for on the way back to your house when I take you home." Santana said. Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"A surprise?" she asked. Santana nodded and Rachel smiled. "Well, in _that_ case, I guess you're worth the price of gas." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Well, thank you _so_ much for that honor." Santana teased as they continued walking to their cars. Santana found Alicia leaning up against the Camaro convertible. "What did I tell you about leaning up against my car?" Santana asked.

"Well, I didn't know how long you were gonna be." Alicia said. Santana looked at her sister for a moment.

"Don't scratch my paint." Santana said.

"Yes your highness." Alicia said. Rachel watched the sisters in amusement. Santana looked over and smiled.

"You ready to go?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded and got in her car. Santana followed Rachel to her house. When they got there, she made Alicia get in the backseat.

"Alicia, you don't have to do that." Rachel protested when she saw.

"Yes she does." was all Santana said. Rachel looked at Alicia, who shrugged and smiled and Rachel.

"Apparently, I do. It's fine Rachel." Alicia said. Rachel looked guilty.

"Only if you're sure." Rachel said. Santana smiled internally at how sweet Rachel was.

"Oh my god. Berry, get your ass in the car already. We don't have all day, damn it." Santana said. Rachel looked over at Santana with a hint of hurt in her eyes and Santana smiled at the diva to let her know that she was only teasing the smaller girl. Rachel smiled at the reassurance and got in the car. Santana looked over at her girlfriend with adoration before pulling out of the driveway and driving back to her house. Mrs. Lopez all but squeezed the smaller girl to death when the three walked in the kitchen. Santana laughed at the sight. "Hey, _Mami_ your children are standing right here, you know." Santana said. Mrs. Lopez looked over and saw her daughters.

"I see you two all the time. I'm tired of you." she teased, though she released Rachel and pulled Santana into a hug. Alicia came over and patted Rachel on the back.

"Congrats, Rach. You've survived a Nina Lopez hug." Alicia said, smiling. Rachel and Santana laughed and Nina glared at her youngest daughter. Santana moved from her mother's grip and leaned against the counter, pulling Rachel into her body so that Rachel's back was facing Santana's fron and wrapping her arms around Rachel's waist. The three girls stayed there for a few minutes talking to Mrs. Lopez before Santana grew tired of having her backpack on.

"Rae, you wanna see my room?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded and Santana grabbed her hand, leading her through the kitchen and out the kitchen door that led to the rather large garage. Santana walked over to the staircase on the other side of the garage with Rachel in tow and climbed the stairs to Santana's room. Rachel's jaw dropped.

"This is your room?" Rachel asked as they entered the garage apartment. Santana nodded.

"There's also another entrance. That may come in handy if you ever want to sneak in during the night." Santana said. Rachel laughed.

"It's huge. How'd you end up with this room?" Rachel asked.

"My old room was next to my parents and my dad grew tired of hearing me play rap music late at night or really at any time. He asked me to move to another room of my choice and I asked them to renovate the garage apartment for me. Alicia learned from that and she did the exact same thing a year later. She convinced my parents to renovate our basement and that's where her room is. It's about as big as this one." Santana explained.

"I love it. And I love your color scheme. Neon blue and neon green go really well together and you added the perfect amount of black as a contrast." Rachel said. Santana smiled as Rachel surveyed the room. Her movements stopped as she saw two framed pictures on one of the bedside tables that were next to Santana's king-sized bed. She smiled as she noticed that one of them was of her and Santana in front of the Statue of Liberty. They had gotten someone to take the picture for them. She smiled even wider as she saw that the other one was of just Rachel. "Where'd you get that one?" Rachel asked.

"You know how at Nationals they had that photographer and they made us take individual pictures and a group picture?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded. "I bought that. It came in last night." Santana explained. Rachel smiled again.

"I love you, San." Rachel said. Santana smiled. She had thought about making a joke next time Rachel said it, but those thoughts immediately left her mind.

"I love you, too." Santana said. There was a knock at the door.

"San! Rachel! Dinner!" Alicia called. Santana and Rachel went into the house and sat down at the table. Nina put a tray of tacos in the middle of the table. Upon further inspection, Santana noticed something was off. She shared a look with Alicia.

"_Mami_? What is up with those tacos?" Santana asked.

"They're vegan. You said Rachel was a vegan, so I made vegan tacos." Nina said.

"Oh, wow. Thank you so much, Mrs. Lopez. They look amazing." Rachel said.

"In fact, I'm thinking of only making vegan foods from now on." Ricky and Santana's eyes widened. Alicia glared at Santana.

"This is all your fault." Alicia said.

"What did I do?" Santana asked.

"You're the one who brought home a vegan and now I can't even enjoy the one perk of being a Hispanic in a town like Lima." Alicia said. Ricky intervened.

"Honey, you aren't _really _considering making only vegan foods are you?" Ricky asked. He looked at Rachel. "Not that I have a problem with vegans..." he said. Rachel smiled.

"It's okay. I understand that veganism isn't for everyone." Rachel said. Nina nodded.

"Okay, I'll just make vegan food when Rachel comes over." Nina said. Santana nodded.

"Rachel, I hope you don't find this cruel, but I made a few tacos, just in case you were okay with it. Would you mind if I...?" Ricky asked, trailing off. Rachel smiled again.

"I don't mind, Dr. Lopez." Rachel said.

"Oh thank God." Ricky, Alicia, and Santana said in unison. Ricky went and got the non-vegan tacos and set them between the two girls and himself. "Do you want any?" he asked Nina. She shook her head.

"I'm going to be a good hostess and eat what our guest is eating." Nina said. Santana smirked.

"Well then I guess that makes me a bad girlfriend then." Santana said. Rachel looked up her and nodded.

"Terrible." Rachel teased. Santana looked at her and smirked.

"Oh really?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded and Santana smiled. Santana looked at Rachel, looked over that non-vegan tacos, looked back at Rachel, looked at the vegan tacos, before looking at Rachel _again_. Santana looked down at her plate and sighed. Reaching across Rachel, Santana grabbed a vegan taco. She looked up and saw the eyes of her parents, her sister, and her girlfriend looking back at her. "What?" Santana asked.

"San, I don't care if you eat the non-vegan tacos." Rachel said.

"I _want_ to do this." Santana said. She looked over and saw Alicia staring at her. "What, Al?" Santana asked.

"You are _so _whipped." Alicia said, smirking.

"So what if I am?" Santana asked, biting into the vegan taco. She chewed thoughtfully. "You know, this isn't that bad." Santana said. Rachel's eyes lit up.

"Does this mean you'd want to go vegan full-time?" Rachel asked. Santana stopped chewing.

"Not gonna happen. Sorry babe." Santana said. Rachel laughed.

"It's okay." Rachel said.

"I will eat it from time to time though." Santana said as she reached for another vegan taco as well as two non-vegan. Rachel laughed again.

"I can live with that." Rachel said. Santana smiled. After they finished eating, they had desert and then everyone talked for about an hour. After awhile, Santana announced that she was taking Rachel home. "So what's this big surprise you were talking about at school?" Rachel asked when they were driving. Santana smiled as she pulled into the local ice cream shop.

"Well, this is before I knew about the vegan tacos... but I called ahad and made sure that they have dairy-free ice cream and I wanted to do something special for you, because the place that I'm taking you is kind of special to me." Santana said.

"Oh San..." Rachel said, unsure how to express her joy. Santana smiled as Rachel kissed her. They went in and ordered. After they had their ice cream, Rachel headed toward the car, but Santana stopped her.

"Where I'm taking you is right over there." Santana said. She led Rachel toward a group of trees and they climbed through them.

"San, where are you taking me?" Rachel asked. Santana turned around.

"Do you trust me?" Santana asked.

"What? Rachel asked, confused.

"Do you trust me, Rae?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded.

"With my life." Rachel said. Santana smiled at the words.

"Then come on." Santana said gently. Rachel nodded. Santana grabbed her free hand and continued taking her through the woods. Finally, they reached the end and climbed through the last group of trees to see the most beautiful view Rachel had ever seen.

"Oh my god, San. That's so beautiful." Rachel said. Santana looked down at her and smiled.

"Yea you are." Santana said. Rachel looked up and smiled. Santana closed the gap between them. "This is where I come when I'm stressed or want to think or sad or when I want to be alone." Santana said when they pulled apart.

"How'd you find this place?" Rachel asked.

"One time Q, Brittany, and I were at the ice cream shop and Q and I got into a fight. I got so pissed that I just ran away and kept running until I found this place." Santana said. Rachel smiled. "You're the first person I've ever brought here." Santana said. Rachel looked at her.

"Not even Brittany?" Rachel asked. Santana shook her head.

"You know she can't keep a secret. She would have told my mom the first time I was gone." Santana said. Rachel nodded. "You have to super secret swear not to tell anyone." Santana said. Rachel laughed.

"Super secret swear? What are we, ten?" Rachel asked. Santana attempted to glare, but the grin on her face gave her away. "Do you want seal it with linking our pinkies together too?" Rachel teased. Santana smiled.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind." Santana said. Rachel smiled as Santana leaned down and kissed her.

"You're secret is safe with me." Rachel promised.

"And you're safe with me." Santana returned. Rachel smiled softly and hugged Santana.

"Why's that?" Rachel asked.

"Because I love you." Santana said. Rachel nodded and grinned.

"And I love you." Rachel replied. They sat in the spot for awhile, talking about anything, everything, and nothing. Finally, Rachel looked at her watch. Santana watched as she frowned at the device.

"Do you have a curfew?" Santana asked. It was a legitimate question. They hadn't been out at night together in Lima. They'd only been together in New York where the only curfew was bed check at eleven. They could stay up as late as they wanted, except the night before the competition. Rachel looked up and nodded.

"I have to be home by ten thirty on school nights and its ten." Rachel said sadly. Santana nodded. "I don't want to go though." Santana smiled.

"I don't either, but I want your dads to trust me. Besides, my curfew is ten forty-five on school nights." Santana said. Rachel nodded. Santana stood up and offered her hand. Rachel accepted it and allowed Santana to pull her up. They drove back to Rachel's house and stepped up to the porch at ten twenty-five. "I had a good time, Rae." Santana said, allowing Rachel to stand on the steps so that Rachel was taller than her for the first time.

"So did I, San." Rachel said. Santana leaned up and placed a soft kiss on Rachel's lips. "Thank you for showing me your sacred place." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Of course. Now if I disappear, only you will know where to find me. Which is a good thing, because you'll probably be the only one I'll want to talk to. Just make sure no one follows you, okay?" Santana said. Rachel nodded and kissed Santana.

"I have to go." Rachel whispered. Santana nodded, kissed Rachel one more time, and walked away. She turned around and saw Rachel still on her porch.

"I'm taking you on a real date this weekend." she called out. Rachel smiled brightly and nodded. Santana waved before she got in her car and drove away.


	16. Chapter 16

_Rachel woke up and saw that she was in the hotel room in New York. She smiled as she heard water running and the faint sound of Santana singing in the shower. When she heard the water stop and the door open, Rachel hopped out of bed. She smiled brightly at Santana as the taller girl walked out of the bathroom. Santana looked at her strangely. "What's wrong with you, Berry?" Santana asked as she pushed past Rachel. Rachel turned around to face the other girl. Santana looked over and saw Rachel staring at her. "What the hell are you looking at, Man-Hands?" Santana asked. Rachel looked down._

_"Uh..." Rachel started to say._

_"By the way, can you like stop talking in your sleep? It's really irritating and you're kind of loud. Not as loud as normal, but you're still loud." Santana interrupted harshly. Rachel looked up at Santana._

_"What's going on? I... I thought..." Rachel said._

_"You thought what, Berry? Spit it out already. I haven't got all day." Santana said._

_"I thought you liked me." Rachel said. Santana laughed._

_"That's a good one, Berry." Santana said. She kept laughing until she looked at Rachel's face. "Holy hell. You're serious." Santana said. Rachel nodded._

_"Look Berry. I don't like you, in any way. If I were to ever even think about dating you, it would be to make Brittany jealous. And that would be a waste of my time, because that wouldn't even come close to working." Santana said. She packed up her stuff. "All right look. I'm going to stay with Q and Britts because you're freaking me out. Have fun sleeping in here all by yourself, Berry." Santana said. The moment the door closed, Rachel started crying._

* * *

><p>Rachel woke with a start and a scream. Even though her room was soundproofed, a minute later her dads were running into her room to find her crying . "Rachel, honey, are you all right?" Martin asked. Rachel shook her head.<p>

"Did you have another nightmare?" Toby asked. Rachel nodded.

"Do you want us to stay in here for a bit?" Martin asked. Rachel shook her head.

"Santana." Rachel said. Her dads looked at each other.

"You want Santana?" Toby asked. Rachel nodded. "Sweetie, it's one thirty in the morning." Toby said.

"Please, Daddy. I need Santana right now." Rachel said. Martin and Toby exchanged a look.

"You can call her. But don't be disappointed if she can't come over." Martin said. Rachel nodded and her dads closed the door as Rachel picked up her phone. She dialed her girlfriend's number and put the phone to her ear as it rang.

* * *

><p>Santana woke with a start as her phone rang. She blinked a few times and noticed that the sound she was hearing was her phone. She grabbed it and answered without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" she asked sleepily.<p>

_"San?"_ she heard Rachel's voice say. Santana immediately sat up and looked at her clock.

"Rae? It's one-thirty in the morning. Are you okay?" Santana asked.

_"San, I need you."_ Rachel said on the other line.

"What's wrong?" Santana asked, worried.

_"I had a nightmare. Can you come over?"_ Rachel asked. Santana nodded before realizing that Rachel couldn't see it.

"Yea. Yea, just give me a few minutes. I'll be there in fifteen minutes, okay?" Santana asked. She hung up, threw on the first jacket and pair of flip-flops she saw, and grabbed her phone, wallet, and keys before running down the stairs and threw the garage and into the kitchen. She looked around for a notebook and pen to write her parents a note. She turned on the light and screamed. "Al! What the _hell_ are you doing in here?" Santana yelled.

"I'm pulling an all-nighter and I got hungry. What are you doing in here?" Alicia asked. Before Santana could answer, their parents came running down the stairs.

"What is going on down here? What are you two doing out of bed?" Ricky yelled.

"I'm pulling an all-nighter for my history test." Alicia said. Ricky nodded.

"And you?" he asked, looking in Santana's direction.

"I need to go to Rachel's." Santana said.

"It's one-thirty in the morning. No way." Ricky said.

"But _Papi_, Rachel had a nightmare. She gets them a lot. When she was younger, a family friend used to beat her. She still gets nightmares about it. She wouldn't call me this late unless it really freaked her out. She'd just have her dads calm her down like normal." Santana said. Her dad looked at her for a moment before sighing.

"Go ahead. Take some stuff in case she needs you to spend the night." Ricky said. Santana looked at her dad.

"Seriously?" she asked. Ricky nodded. "Thanks _Papi_." Santana said before running back to her room and grabbing an outfit, her brush, her straightner, and her makeup.

"Why'd you let her go?" Alicia asked. Ricky shrugged.

"Your sister's in love, _mija_." Ricky said. Santana ran to her car and drove to Rachel's house. She grabbed the bag and ran up the walkway and rang the doorbell. Seconds later, Rachel threw open the door and flung herself into Santana's arms, almost causing her to drop the bag. Rachel was crying.

"I didn't think you'd come." Rachel said. Santana hugged her.

"Baby, of course I came." Santana said. She gently pushed Rachel into the house and closed the door.

"Please don't break up with me." Rachel said. Santana's eyes widened.

"Rae, I'm not going to break up with you." Santana said. Rachel hugged Santana closer to her. "Come on. Let's go up to your room and get you back into your bed." Santana said. She gently led Rachel up the stairs and into the diva's room. She walked out of the room and ran into Rachel's dads. They led her downstairs.

"We're sorry to have woken you up, but Rachel insisted on calling you." Toby said.

"Don't worry about it, Mr. B." Santana said.

"We think that Rachel's nightmare must have been really vivid this time." Martin said.

"I don't think that that's what this one was about." Santana said.

"What do you mean?" Toby asked.

"Well, the moment she opened the door, Rachel flung herself into my arms and begged me not to leave her." Santana said.

"Is everything okay between you two? I mean, are you guys fighting?" Martin asked. Santana shook her head.

"If we are, its news to me. Everything was good when I dropped her off earlier." Santana said. Martin and Toby nodded.

"Why don't you go upstairs and see if you can get her to talk? And you're welcome to spend the night." Toby said. Santana nodded and ran upstairs and into the diva's room.

"Baby, you okay?" Santana asked, lying next to the girl. Rachel shook her head. "Can you tell me what this one was about?" Santana asked softly.

"We were back in New York. We woke up and you said that you would never like me and the only reason you'd ever even _think _dating me was to make Brittany jealous." Rachel said.

"Rae, it was only a nightmare." Santana said, hugging Rachel.

"It was so real." Rachel said.

"But it wasn't. You know I love you." Santana said. Rachel nodded and got even closer to Santana.

"Please don't leave." Rachel said.

"I already got the okay from both sets of parents. I can stay the night. Let's go to sleep, okay?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded and Santana got up, closed the door, and turned off the light. She got in Rachel's bed and pulled the smaller girl closer to her again. "I'm right here, don't worry." Santana said quietly. Rachel nodded and Santana kissed Rachel softly before whispering, "I love you, Rachel." Rachel didn't hesitate before answering.

"I love you too, Santana." Rachel whispered.

"I'll always protect you." Santana said before drifting off to sleep with Rachel in her arms.


	17. Chapter 17

Santana walked into the school building by herself on the last day of school. She spent the night at Rachel's house to... "study" and Rachel hadn't been finished with her morning routine. After almost a month of dating, Santana knew how important it was to her girl and Santana had to pick up Alicia, who had ditched her for her friends the moment the car had been parked Mercedes walked up to her. "Hey girl." Mercedes said. Santana looked over at her.

"Uh... hey Weezy... what do you want?" Santana asked.

"Diva just called me with the news... are you guys celebrating tonight?" Mercedes asked. Santana looked over at her in surprise.

"We have a date tonight... but our anniversary isn't for three more days. What should we be celebrating, other than the last day of school?" Santana asked. Mercedes gave her a strange look. "What do you know that I don't?" Santana demanded.

"Rachel got accepted into the Julliard summer program she applied for back in March. She didn't tell you?" Mercedes asked. Santana shook her head. "I'd have thought you'd be her first call." Mercedes said.

"I didn't even know she applied." Santana said.

"Well, you guys weren't together when she applied. Hell, you weren't even friends." Mercedes said. Santana nodded.

"I have to go find Rachel." Santana said, walking away. On her journey to find her girlfriend, she was stopped by Kurt, Tina and Mike, Artie, and Sam. They were all asking about how excited Rachel was and if Santana was proud of her girlfriend. Finally, she spotted her favorite person waiting for her at her locker. Santana took a deep breath and walked up to Rachel, giving her a quick kiss before opening her locker. "Hi there pretty girl." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"Hey my little rich girl." Rachel replied. Santana looked over expectantly. "What?" Rachel asked. Santana raised an eyebrow. "Do yyou hav something to say?" Rachel asked her girlfriend.

"Do you?" Santana threw back.

"Okay. What's up with you?" Rachel asked.

"When were you going to tell me about the Julliard summer program?" Santana asked. Rachel's eyes widened.

"Who told you about that?" Rachel asked.

"Kurt, Tina and Mike, Artie, and Sam. But Mercedes told me first." Santana said. Rachel nodded.

"I just found out this morning that I got accepted." Rachel said.

"Why didn't you tell me that you applied?" Santana asked.

"We weren't exactly friends when I applied. And when we got together, I didn't believe I had any chance of getting in, so I didn't bother telling you. I ddin't think I'd actually get accepted." Rachel said.

"Why wouldn't you think you'd get in?" Santana asked.

"Its Julliard." Rachel said.

"And you're Rachel Berry." Santana replied. Rachel nodded. "I'm proud of you, Rae. So proud. I just wish I'd have been the first person you told. I didn't like hearing about it from Mercedes and the rest of the Glee Club. I'm sure I came off as the most unattentive girlfriend." Santana said.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you first." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Its okay." Santana whispered, kissing Rachel. Smiling, she pulled away. "So how long am I losing you for? A week? Two?" Santana asked. Rachel looked down ant Santana frowned. "Rae, how long will you be gone?" she asked. Rachel was silent. "When do you get back?" Santana asked.

"August 25th." Rachel answered. Santana raised an eyebrow.

"When do you leave?" Santana asked.

"Tomorrow." Rachel said.

"You're going to be gone the entire summer?" Santana exclaimed.

"San, I'm so sorry." Rachel said.

"You should have told me about this before today." Santana said.

"Baby... I'm sorry." Rachel said. Santana shook her head.

"So tonight is the only time I have to spend with you all summer. Rachel, you and Quinn were supposed to go to Hawaii with my family." Santana said.

"Actually... I can't do tonight. I have to pack." Rachel said. Santana scoffed.

"Awesome. So I have to go all summer without seeing my girlfriend." Santana said. Rachel tried to speak, but Santana interrupted her. "Rae, I love you, but I'm really mad right now. Let's just say goodbye for the summer right now." Santana said. Rachel shook her head.

"I want you to go to the airport with me tomorrow." Rachel said.

"I'll think about it." Santana said. She kissed Rachel and walked away, leaving her locker open. Rachel sighed and closed the locker before walking away. Throughout the rest of the day, their friends noticed something was off between Rachel and Santana, but no one wanted to be the one to bring it up and piss Santana off. Rachel wanted to speak to Santana, but she knew there was no point in even attempting. The next day at the airport, Rachel stood in the lobby until it was absolutely necessary to go through security.

"I guess she couldn't make it." Rachel said to her dads.

"She'll call you when she's ready." Martin assured her.

"Or when she wants to break up with me." Rachel said.

"Stop thinking like that. It won't happen." Toby said. She hugged her dads and went through security and got on the plane. When in New York, she went to the hotel she was supposed to be at and waited to get signed in.

"Reed Taylor." the guy in front of her introduced himself. Rachel smiled.

"Rachel Berry." Rachel said. He nodded.

"Wait... I saw you perform at Nationals a couple of weeks ago... New Directions, right?" he asked. Rachel nodded. "You were good. Where you from again? I can always remember the names of the groups, but never the cities." he asked.

"Ohio. You?" she asked.

"Baltimore. My girlfriend was pretty bummed when I told her I'd be here all summer." he said.

"I know the feeling." Rachel said.

"Boyfriend troubles?" he guessed. Rachel shook her head.

"My girlfriend." Rachel said quietly. He smiled.

"My sister just came out. I know how hard it is, and I respect that you're not hiding it like a lot of people do." he said. Rachel smiled.

"Santana and I got into a fight about it last night and we haven't talked since." Rachel said.

"Not even to say goodbye?" he asked. Rachel shook her head. "That sucks." he said. Rachel nodded and was about to say something when her phone went off.

"Sorry." she said, checking her phone.

**New Message**

**San**

**Sry abt yesterday and sry I didn't come 2 the airport. I love you, Rachel Berry.**

Rachel smiled. "She text you?" Reed asked. Rachel nodded. "And now you're thinking you should have stayed in Ohio with her." he guessed. Rachel looked up.

"How'd you know?" Rachel asked.

"The look on your face. Its a mixture of love and hesitation. Same look I had before I got on the plane." Reed said.

"I can't be here right now. I need to spend this summer with her. Maybe this will cost me Julliard in the future, but as far as I'm concerned, she's a part of my future no matter what. It was really nice meeting you. Good luck." Rachel said before grabbing her luggage and hailing a taxi. She ran to the first ticket counter she saw at the airport. "I need the first flight back to Lima, Ohio." Rachel said. A few hours later, she was exiting the plane she had been on and running to find her suitcase from baggage. Once she had it, she ran to the lobby, pulling out her phone and dialing a very familiar number. It rang three times before someone picked up.

"Rae?" Santana answered.

"San, I'm so sorry about yesterday. I should have told you sooner and I love you too." Rachel said.

"Thanks, Rae, but it was my fault. I should have been there for you this morning." Santana said.

"No, it was mine. I love you." Rachel said.

"I love you too, Rae." Santana said. Rachel smiled. "Listen, Rae I have to go. Can I call you later?" Santana asked.

"What do you have to do?" Rachel asked. As soon as they question left her mouth, she saw her favorite Latina. In the lobby of the Lima Airport. With an overnight bag. "Oh my god." Rachel said.

"What's wrong? Did you see a homeless guy in New York?" Santana asked. Rachel didn't answer, just dropped her suitcase and ran up to Santana, who still had her phone to her ear. "Rae? Where are you?" Santana asked.

"Turn around." Rachel said into her phone before hanging up. Santana turned around and her jaw dropped as she hung up her phone. "Rach... you're supposed to be in New York. What are you doing in the Lima Airport?" Santana asked.

"What are you doing in the Lima Airport?" Rachel countered.

"I was going to get a flight to New York to apologize to you." Santana said. Rachel smiled. "What are you doing here?" Santana asked.

"I got your text and immediately knew that this is where I belong right now." Rachel said.

"This is Julliard we're talking about." Santana said.

"And I choose you." Rachel said.

"Baby, is this going to impact whether or not you get in to go to school there?" Santana asked. Rachel shrugged. "What about your future?" her girlfriend asked.

"What about us?" Rachel asked.

"Baby, we'll be fine. This is your future... your dream." Santana said.

"You're my future and being with you is a dream come true, so... I'm good." Rachel said. Santana smiled. "So my rich girl was going to buy a ticket to New York, _just _to apologize to me?" Rachel asked. Santana smirked.

"I'm just _that_ awesome... I mean romantic." Santana said. Rachel smiled and kissed Santana deeply. "I love you so much, Rachel." Santana said.

"I love you too, San. More than you know." Rachel said. Santana smiled and stepped past Rachel to grab the abandoned suitcase. "You want to go home and explain to my dads why they wasted their money on whatever that camp cost and a plane ticket to New York?" Rachel asked.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded. "If you're not, I'll pay for you flight back to New York, so your dads don't have to buy three plane tickets in one day." Santana offered.

"I want _you _more than I want Broadway." Rachel said

"You must want me a lot then." Santana said. Rachel nodded and grabbed Santana's free hand. "All right. Let's go." Santana said. Rachel smiled and the two walked to Santana's car and drove to Rachel's house. Rachel had called her dads on the way and told them she was coming home.

"Rachel Barbara Berry, you better have a good explanation for this." Toby said. Santana hung back in the entryway. Martin walked into the entryway.

"Santana, its good to see you. Did Rachel ask you to pick her up?" Martin asked.

"Not exactly." Santana said. Martin raised an eyebrow.

"You two have some explaining to do." Martin said. The two girls were led into the living room. Rachel spoke first.

"I was about to check in at the hotel when I got a text from Santana, apologising for the fight we got in yesterday and for not coming to the airport this morning. I immediately knew that I wanted to spend this summer _with_ Santana, not _away _from her. I got on the first flight available and flew back to Lima. As I was going through the lobby, I saw her entering the airport." Rachel said.

"You were going to fly to New York to apologize to our daughter?" Toby asked. Santana nodded.

"Santana even offered to buy me _another_ ticket to fly back to New York, but I just want to be with her." Rachel said. Martin and Toby nodded.

"We'd probably be more upset if we'd had to actually pay for the program." Martin said. At Santana's confused look, he continued. "Rachel was one of the ten acceptees who recieved a scholarship to the program." he said.

"You got a scholarship and you left?" Santana exclaimed.

"Santana, I wanted to do this." Rachel said.

"You know I'm going to feel bad, right?" Santana asked.

"Don't. I'm not going to regret this." Rachel said. Rachel's dads smiled.

"We'll just leave you two by yourselves." Martin said.

"Want to go to Breadstix for an early dinner and then go see a movie?" Rachel asked.

"You're just bribing me with the Stix so that I don't feel bad." Santana said.

"Maybe..." Rachel said playfully. Santana smiled. "I love you." Rachel said.

"I love you too." Santana said, kissing Rachel.


	18. Chapter 18

Ever since Santana had gotten in her car with Rachel in the parking lot of the Lima Airport and drove back to the Berry house, there had been a nagging voice in her head saying, '_If you do this, you don't give a damn about her or her dream._' and '_This is totally a Finnocence move. You're allowing her to give up something **she **wants just to please you. Do you really want to be as bad as that jackass? Look how well it turned out for them!_' and '_Don't be such a bitch, Lopez. Don't let her do this. Stop the damn car and demand that she get her ass on the next flight to New York.'_ But Santana, wanting to be selfish, kept driving. However, when she saw Rachel look longingly at the Julliard pamphlet that she still had before she went upstairs, Santana felt like a total bitch. When Rachel went upstairs to freshen up and put her suitcase away before they were going to leave, Santana looked through the pamphlet. "Jackpot!" she said as she found what she was looking for. She quickly pulled out her phone and typed in the phone number for the Julliard program that was on the pamphlet. Hearing Rachel come down the stairs, she quickly put the brochure back on the coffee table and stood up.

"Ready to go, San?" Rachel asked. Santana quickly tried to think of an excuse.

"You know, actually, can you give me, like, an hour to go home and drop my bag off?" Santana asked. Rachel's brow furrowed. "Its just... I don't want to leave it in the car while we're eating or in the movie. You know how the people in Lima are." Santana said. Rachel looked suspicious, but nodded.

"Sure. Go ahead." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Thanks, babe. I'll be back to pick you up at five." Santana said. Rachel nodded suspiciously.

"Bye, San." Rachel said, kissing Santana before the girl practically ran out of her house. The moment she was back in her room and lying on her bed, she pulled out her phone and dialed the recently added number. '_Please pick up._' she repeatedly said in her head as the phone rang. While waiting for someone to pick up, she grabbed the framed photo of her and Rachel in New York. '_**That's **where she belongs right now. I'm not going to hold her back. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her to her dream. Even if that means-_' her thoughts where interrupted when a person _finally_ answered the phone.

"_How may I help you?"_ the person on the other end of the conversation said. It took Santana a moment to recover from her thoughts. "_Hello_?"

"Hi. Yea... is this Julliard?" Santana asked.

"_Yes it is. This is Rita. How may I help you_?" the person said.

"Uh... my name's Santana Lopez. My friend Rachel Berry was accepted into the summer program that started today as one of the ten people that recieved a scholarship. She was supposed to arrive in New York today, but due to a... family emergency, she couldn't make it for registration. Is there anyway she can sign in tomorrow?" Santana asked.

"_Well, we generally don't allow that..."_ Rita said.

"Please, ma'am. Rachel's an amazing performer. She can sing, she can dance, and she can act. She's everything you could want in someone who was attending the summer program at Julliard. Just give her a chance to show that." Santana said.

"_You said she was one of the scholarship acceptees_?" Rita asked.

"Yes, she was." Santana replied.

"_Tell you what. If Rachel can be here by eight tomorrow morning, we'll let her register. That's an hour before the orientation begins. But if she has to miss this one, we won't be able to allow her another chance to register_." Rita said. Santana's face split into a smile.

"Oh my god. Thank you so much. I'll make sure she gets on the plane. Thank you so much." Santana said.

"_You're welcome. I look forward to meeting her_." Rita said. Santana hung up the phone and got her computer. Pulling out her credit card, she quickly bought Rachel a plane ticket to New York. She didn't know how she was going to explain to her father why she felt that it was her responsibility to pay for Rachel's ticket, but she didn't care. After she printed out Rachel's ticket, she got back in her car and drove to Rachel's house. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Rachel answered quickly.

"Hey you're back early." Rachel said, leaning up for a kiss. Santana turned away. "What's wrong?" Rachel asked.

"Can we talk?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded.

"Yea sure. Let's go to my room." Rachel said. The two girls made their way up to Rachel's room and closed the door. "What's up, San?" Rachel asked.

"So.. I spoke to the Julliard people and they said if you can get there by eight tomorrow morning, you can register." Santana said. Rachel looked at her with wide eyes.

"Why did you do that?" Rachel asked quietly.

"Because that's where you belong." Santana said. Rachel shook her head.

"I want to be here, with you. I want to spend the summer with you. You're my girlfriend." Rachel said.

"That's another thing. I'm breaking up with you." Santana said. Rachel looked up.

"What? Why? Did I... did I do something wrong?" Rachel asked. Santana quickly shook her head. "Then why are you breaking up with me?" Rachel asked.

"Because this way there's nothing holding you back. There's nothing keeping you from going after your dream." Santana said. Rachel looked down.

"_If_ I were to go to New York, I wouldn't go unless I knew everything was all right between us. And I'm pretty sure a break up doesn't count as all right." Rachel said.

"So if everything's all right between us, you'll go?" Santana asked. Rachel tried to think of an excuse.

"I don't have a plane ticket." Rachel said. Santana handed her the piece of paper. "You bought me a plane ticket. San, you're the most thoughtful, kind, and generous person I've ever dated. Puck would have dumped me the moment he realized he wouldn't have anyone to make out with. Jesse would have found a way to impersonate me so he got to be the one to go to the program. Finn would have been a complete ass about it and if we were in _this _particular situation, he would never have called Julliard and got me another chance to go to New York." Rachel said. Santana smiled softly.

"That's because I love you and I want to see you succeed. I never should have even let you leave the airport. I feel like a total bitch, but worse? I feel like a terrible girlfriend. I want you to be all that you can be and if that means we can't spend the summer together, then so be it. I promise to come visit you like every other weekend or something But babe, you have to go." Santana said. Rachel looked at the ticket.

"You really want this for me?" Rachel asked. Santana nodded.

"Of course I do, sweetie. I want everything for you." Santana said. Rachel smiled softly and nodded.

"Okay." she whispered. Santana raised an eyebrow.

"Okay?" she asked, searching for the real answer in Rachel's eyes. She couldn't find one, but nevertheless, Rachel nodded.

"Okay." Rachel repeated

"Okay, your flight leaves at seven, so we better get you to the airport so you can get through security." Santana said. Rachel nodded and went to explain to her fathers what was going on, and then Santana grabbed the girl's suitcase and put in her car. Santana held Rachel's hand the entire drive to the airport and Rachel didn't say a word the entire drive. Santana walked Rachel into the lobby and went as far as she could go. "Babe... I can't go any farther without a ticket." Santana said. Rachel looked at Santana and grabbed her hand tighter. "I should go." Santana said.

"No!" Rachel protested.

"Baby, the longer I stay, the harder it will be for me to leave and for you to get on the plane. Call me when you get to New York so I know you're safe." Santana said. Rachel threw herself into Santana's arms. "I love you, Rach." Santana whispered.

"I know. I know you do." Rachel said. She smiled up at Santana. "I love you too." Rachel continued. Santana hugged Rachel closer to her before kissing her.

"Go do your thing, Rachel Berry." Santana said, smiling. She noticed Rachel was crying when she pulled back. "Babe, don't cry. This is going to be so good for you, I swear." Santana said. Rachel attempted to stop the tears.

"I love you, San." Rachel said. Santana smiled softly.

"I love you too Rae." Santana said. She gently pushed Rachel in the direction of the security station and turned away before Rachel could see her crying. '_Grow up Lopez. It's not like she's moving to Siberia! She's just going to New York. She'll have access to her iPhone 4, which means we can text, call, she has access to Facebook and we can FaceTime each other. She's not disappearing off the face of the Earth. Just because you love her doesn't mean you have to cry every time you say goodbye-'_ a voice calling her name pulled her back into reality. She turned around and saw Rachel still standing where she'd left her. Slowly, Santana walked back to her. "What's wrong?" Santana asked. Rachel shook her head, crying.

"I can't." Rachel said.

"Rae, you have to." Santana said.

"No. I can't. I won't." Rachel said.

"I should have brought your dads along. They could have helped me get you on that plane." Santana said. Rachel shook her head.

"I love you for doing this for me, but no one can convince me that I need to be anywhere else but in your arms." Rachel said. Santana shook her head, finally letting her tears fall freely.

"No. No, you belong in New York. You belong at _Julliard_." Santana said.

"I belong with you." Rachel said. Santana closed her eyes.

"I don't deserve you." Santana whispered.

"What?" Rachel asked. Santana opened her eyes.

"You're too good for me. You're too good _to_ me." Santana said. Rachel's brow furrowed in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.

"How can someone I've treated so horribly her entire life want to be with me?" Santana asked. Rachel reached out and grabbed her girlfriend's hand.

"Because I see the _real_ you. The one who is behind the girl that you pretend to be when you walk in to McKinley. I see the you that isn't from Lima Heights Adjacent." Rachel said, earning a small laugh from Santana. "I see the you that loves me." Rachel whispered. Santana looked up.

"Rachel, every word you say makes it harder for me to leave you here. Please... let me leave." Santana said.

"I don't want you to leave me here. I don't want to go to New York. What I've learned from this relationship is that there's more to life than just me. I'm not the only one my decisions effect anymore. They have an impact on _you_. That is why I'm not going to New York." Rachel said. Santana shook her head.

"This could jumpstart your career. I'm _not_ getting in the way of that. I already bought your ticket, Rae. Just get on the plane." Santana said.

"I'll pay you back for the ticket." Rachel said.

"I don't care about the damn money, Rachel! I care about you and your future. And your future is New York and Julliard and-" Santana was interrupted by Rachel kissing her.

"And you." Rachel whispered against Santana's lips. Santana shook her head.

"Go to New York." Santana said.

"Then come with me." Rachel said hopefully. Santana shook her head again.

"I can't come with you to New York, Rachel." Santana said.

"Why not?" Rachel asked.

"Where would I stay?" Santana asked.

"You could stay with me." Rachel said.

"In the hotel room set aside for the Julliard people? I don't think that's gonna fly, Rae." Santana said.

"You could try to get into the Julliard thing." Rachel said.

"That wouldn't even work. The only reason they're letting you go late is because you were already accepted." Santana said.

"Santana, if I was meant to be at the Julliard program, I would be there. I'm here with _you_. That's where I'm supposed to be. I'll go to New York when the time is right and you can be there with me. Not before then." Rachel said. Santana shook her head.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you taking a gamble and possibly throwing away your future just to be with _me_?" Santana asked.

"Because I want you, Santana." Rachel said.

"Well, I don't want you." Santana said. Rachel's jaw slightly dropped.

"Wha... why?" Rachel said. Santana looked down. "Please tell me you aren't serious." Rachel said. Santana, still looking down, shook her head while crying. "Then why did you say that?" Rachel asked.

"I figured if I said that, you'd run off and get on the plane. But it didn't work." Santana said. Rachel lifted her hand to Santana's cheek. "I just want you to be happy, Rach. That's all I want for you." Santana whispered.

"You make me happier than I've ever felt." Rachel whispered back.

"We shouldn't work." Santana said. Rachel forced Santana to make eye contact with her. "...but we do." Santana continued. Rachel nodded.

"Yea, we do." she said.

"So what do we do now?" Santana asked.

"We go home. This is the third time I've been in the Lima Airport today. I'm tired of this place. I want to go home and prepare to spend the summer with my hot badass, yet incredibly sweet girlfriend." Rachel said. Santana looked up.

"Your dads are going to kill me." Santana said. Rachel shook her head.

"No. Its not like they paid for the program and they know how much you mean to me." Rachel said. Santana looked down from the ceiling of the airport.

"I really can't say that I agree with this. I don't like the idea of you giving up your dream for me. But I love you so much and I don't like the idea of having to go three months without you." Santana said. Rachel kissed Santana softly.

"You don't have to. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to call the Julliard people first thing tomorrow morning and tell them that due to extenuating circumstances, I can no longer attend the summer program." Rachel said. Santana leaned down and rested her forehead on the other girl's shoulder. "Come on. I'll take you to Breadstix. Let me call my dads real quick." Rachel said, pulling out her phone.

"Hi... daddy?... yes, I have been crying... uh... no... I didn't trip on the escalator in the airport. Daddy, that would most likely kill me!... anyway... well, if you'd stop interrupting me, I could tell you why I've been crying... thank you. Anyway, I've been crying because... I can't do it, Daddy. I can't go... no Santana isn't on board with this... yes, she's crying too... No! No one fell down the damn escalator! God! That's really weird, Daddy... wait. You saw someone fall down an escalator in the airport before?... anyway, I'm taking Santana to Breadstix. Do you guys want anything?... okay, just text me your orders and I'll get them. I'll give you the full story tonight when I get home... Love you too. Bye." Rachel said. Santana looked up from Rachel's shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

"I think your dad wants us to fall down an escalator." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"What can I say? They're my parents." Rachel said. Santana kissed Rachel. "I love you, San." Rachel said.

"I love you, too Rachel." Santana said.

"Thank you so much for all you did. Really, I'll pay you back for the ticket." Rachel said. Santana shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. By the way, I told the Julliard people you had a family emergency, so..." Santana trailed off. Rachel reached up to wipe away a few stray tears.

"Let's go to Breadstix." Rachel whispered. Santana nodded and the two walked out of the Lima Airport.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Based on Chapter 117 of purrpickle's story _Pieces_**

**A/N: Just felt like a little bit of fluff in between storylines! Enjoy! - ocfanatic2013 **

* * *

><p>Two days later, Rachel walked into Santana's room through the garage, having been let in by Mrs. Lopez. She had wanted to surprise her girlfriend and take her to lunch. She had spent an hour straightening and styling her hair and choosing an outfit (jeans and a top that Rachel knew for a fact that Santana loved with the Uug boots Santana had bought her when they were in New York). However, she immediately knew her plans were going to change when she found Santana (wearing sweatpants and tank top) sitting in a recliner that was in front of a TV on the far side of Santana's large garage apartment. It seemed as though the girl was playing a video game, but Rachel couldn't tell which video game she was playing. It sounded like an old one, but sh couln't be certain. "Ha! Take that you stupid fucking mushroom thingy! Suck it!" Santana yelled. Rachel held back her laughter and snuck up behind her girlfriend. She covered the Latina's eyes with one of her hands. "What the fuck?" Santana exclaimed. Rachel laughed and stole the controller with her free hand (pausing the game momentarily so she didn't mess up the Latina's game). "Rae? Is that you?" Santana asked. Rather than answer her girlfriend, Rachel quickly jumped into Santana's lap, causing the girl to grunt in pain. "Ow. Damn Rachel, that <em>hurt<em>!" Santana said.

"Hey! I'm not that heavy!" Rachel said as she unpaused the game, settled in between Santana's legs, and started playing _Super Mario_.

"You could have messed up my game." Santana said accusingly. Rachel nodded.

"You know, you're right, San. You are absolutely right. I could have, but I didn't. And you love me, so shut up." Rachel said as she watched the screen.

"Why are you sitting on me?" Santana asked as she gently poked Rachel's head repeatedly. Rachel smiled, paused the game, and leaned down to kiss Santana deeply.

"Hi." Rachel said, smiling at her girlfriend as she pulled away.

"Hi. You look hot." Santana said, causing Rachel to grin. Santana started to speak again, but her phone rang.

_This place about to blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow_  
><em>blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>This place about to blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>This place about to blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>This place about to blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>

_"_Hold on." she said_ to_ Rachel.

**Incoming Call**

**Quinn**

"Hello?"

_"San? Do you and Rachel want to hang out with us? Don't worry, Britt is out of town this weekend."_ Quinn said.

"Well, I would, but I have a diva on top of me." Santana said.

_"... okay I didn't need to know that."_ Quinn said. Santana laughed.

"Not what I meant. She decided to sit on me and steal my controller. You know, she weighs more than she looks." Santana said. Quinn laughed and Rachel reached back to hit her girlfriend on the shoulder, but missed and hit her in the face. "Ow. Rae!" Santana said. Rachel and Quinn laughed.

"You deserved it." Rachel said.

_"Okay, you two have fun... we can all hang out next time."_ Quinn said.

"Definitely. Later Q." Santana said, hanging up the phone and turning to Rachel. "Now I'm going to ask you again. Why are you sitting on me?" Santana asked. Rachel smirked and kissed her quickly before returning to the game.

"_Because_ I had decided to surprise my favorite and my best girlfriend-" Rachel was cut off.

"I better be your _only_ girlfriend, little girl." Santana said. Rachel smiled. '_This is where I belong forever.'_ Rachel thought, as she nodded.

"You know its only you that's on my mind." Rachel said. Santana smiled softly.

"Good. That's how it should be. You were saying?" she prompted. Rachel nodded.

"Right. I was going to surprise my _favoritest_ and my _bestest_ girl in the whole wide world and take her to lunch, but two things changed my mind." Rachel said.

"And they would be?" Santana asked.

"First, your outfit just doesn't work for going out in public, sweetie." Rachel said, smirking. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Just get to the second thing, pretty girl." Santana said.

"Well, then I decided that I wanted to play your _super cool_ Nintendo 64!" Rachel said, teasing her girlfriend. Santana rolled her eyes as she put her arms went around Rachel's waist. "You always have the coolest stuff, San!" Rachel continued with a smirk.

"Whatever. You can hate all you want, but I can be a nerd at times." Santana said. Rachel smiled and leaned into her girlfriend. Resting her chin on Rachel's shoulder, Santana sighed contently. _'This is where I belong forever.'_ Santana thought, smiling at her girlfriend's face, which was full of concentration. "And you're the one who's playing the _'super cool'_" - Santana mocked Rachel's voice - "Nintendo 64, so that makes _you _just as nerdy as _me_." Santana said. Rachel rolled her eyes.

"You know, you sure go to a lot of trouble to protect your badass reputation. I mean, you tell people you're from a sketchy - scratch that. You tell people you're from the sketchiest part of town, you hide the fact that you spend your weekends playing video games from the '90s... I didn't even know you wore glasses." Rachel said, noticing for the first time that the Latina was in fact, wearing glasses.

"I usually wear contacts, but I ran out of solution and they were hurting my eyes so I took them out and put my glasses on." Santana explained.

"Oh and why do you have _two_ TVs in here?" Rachel asked.

"This one is for when I have friends over. The one by my bed is for when Alicia and I want to watch movies, or when Britt, Q, and I used to have sleep overs in here or - most recently - when I want to cuddle with my incredible girlfriend." Santana said, kissing Rachel's cheek.

"Aw... baby..." Rachel said, completely forgetting about the game and turning around with a huge smile on her face. Santana started to kiss Rachel, but the sight of Mario dying stopped her.

"_Rae_!" Santana yelled. Rachel whipped around to see the little man dying. She turned around with sheepish grin.

"I love you?" she said. Santana glared at her, causing the girl to look down. "I'm sorry." she whispered. Instantly feeling bad, Santana lifted the girl's chin up and softly kissed her.

"Its okay, Rae." Santana whispered. Rachel looked up with a smile. Santana chuckled and took the controller back from her girlfriend. "So... what were you saying about not messing up my game?" Santana teased as she started from her check point, which wasn't very far from where she'd been. Rachel rolled her eyes as she watched her girlfriend expertly get back to where she'd been when Rachel had walked in. The diva settled for simply watching the taller brunette, enjoying the feeling of Santana's arms around her while she played. She decided to quietly sing, knowing that made Santana happy no matter what. Santana instantly started smiling.

_My outsides are cool_  
><em>My insides are blue<em>  
><em>Everytime I think I'm through<em>  
><em>It's because of you<em>  
><em>I've tried different ways<em>  
><em>But it's all the same<em>  
><em>At the end of the day<em>  
><em>I have myself to blame<em>  
><em>I'm just trippin'<em>

_You can buy your hair if it won't grow_  
><em>You can fix your nose if he says so<em>  
><em>You can buy all the make-up that M.A.C. can make<em>  
><em>But if you can't look inside you<em>  
><em>Find out who am I to<em>  
><em>Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty<em>

"I love you." Santana whispered in between levels. Rachel smiled.

"I love you too." she replied, leaning deeper into the embrace, grinning as Santana kissed her cheek, and closing her eyes to fall asleep in her girlfriend's arms. '_Yea. This is definitely where I belong._' Both girls thought.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: It was brought to my attention that I wrote Rachel as a vegetarian rather than as a vegan. If its okay with you guys, I'm going to leave her as a vegetarian from this point on (with the exception of the chapter where Santana's mom makes the vegan tacos cause lets face it, its hilarious when Santana admits to her family that she's whipped!) - because I'm not really sure exactly what vegans can eat. I normally try to stay away from describing Rachel's food choices because of this, but I wanted detail for this chapter... the one time I try to be detailed with food and it shows that I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to that. I hope I didn't offend anyone, and if I did I apologize as that was not my intention at all. I would like to thank Cappsy and Gleek1990 for pointing this out to me. Now that I've given you all a Rachel Berry worthy foreword, I'll let you get to the chapter. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

><p>Santana, Quinn, Alicia, Alicia's friend Jamie, and Santana's parents trolled through the Lima Airport. Santana felt like something was missing, put couldn't quite put her finger on it until her phone rang.<p>

_This place about to blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow_  
><em>blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>This place about to blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>This place about to blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>This place about to blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>  
><em>blow-ow-o-o-o-o-ow<em>

**Incoming Call**

**Rae**

"Rachel, why are you calling me?" Santana asked. She didn't get an answer. "Rae?... Holy crap. Where's Rachel?" she said.

"Answer the phone, stupid." Quinn said. Santana picked up.

"Rae, where are you?" Santana asked.

_"If someone had bothered to notice that I got held up at security, you'd know."_ Rachel said, clearly irritated.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." Santana said.

_"Just tell me where you are and I'll meet you there."_ Rachel said.

"I'm in front of the Starbucks closest to the book store." Santana said.

_"Santana, this is an airport. Every other store is a book store."_ Rachel said.

"Its the one with the giant pengin outside of it." Santana said, briefly wondering why there was a cardboard cutout of a penguin outside of a bookstore.

_"I'll be there soon."_ Rachel said, hanging up.

"You guys go on. I'll wait for Rachel." Santana said. The group nodded. Santana bought a coffee for Rachel and herself a Frappucino before sitting down to wait for her girlfriend.

"Santana Lopez, how could you not even notice I was gone?" Rachel asked when she showed up.

"I'm sorry pretty girl. I was to busy imagining all the fun we're going to have in Hawaii." Santana said, offering the coffee. Rachel glared at the Latina before taking the cup.

"Thank you... I guess I'm not mad. Just next time at least make sure I'm with you before you walk off." Rachel said. Santana smiled.

"Will do." Santana promised. Rachel stared at her for a moment before cracking into a smile. "You're beautiful." Santana whispered. Rachel sat down next to her girlfriend.

"So are you." Rachel replied.

"I don't really want to go sit with my parents right now. We have awhile before we actually have to board." Santana said.

"Then let's just sit here for a bit." Rachel said.

"S!" they heard. Santana looked over to see Brittany.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Santana asked.

"Your mom called and asked if I still wanted to go and I said yes." Brittany said.

"...I'm not okay with this." Santana said. Brittany looked down. "But there's nothing I can do about it. Just know that if you do one thing to hurt Rachel, I'm finding a way to get your ass on the first plane back to Lima, no matter what." Santana said. Brittany nodded. "Come on. Let's go." Santana said, grabbing Rachel's hand to help her up. The three walked over to where Santana's parents, Alicia, Jamie, and Quinn were sitting. "Look who we found." Santana said, shooting her mother a glare. Rachel sat on the ground with her back against the wall, with Santana sitting next to her. Brittany stood awkwardly to the side before sitting next to Quinn.

"Brittany, we're so glad you could make it." Nina said. Alica raised an eyebrow at her sister. Santana pulled her iPod out of her bag and unwrapped the earbuds before moving to lay her head in Rachel's lap.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked. Santana opened one eye.

"Blocking out the world... but I'd settle for just this extremely awkward situation we've found ourselves in." Santana said. Rachel nodded.

"This _is_ pretty awkward." she agreed as she pulled out a magazine from her bag. Santana grabbed her hand.

"Hey." she said. Rachel looked over. "I'm sorry about this. I can tell her to leave if you want." Santana said. Rachel shook her head.

"No. That won't solve anything. We're going to have to get past this eventually." Rachel said. Santana nodded and laced their fingers together before closing her eyes again to fall asleep. Soon, she was being shook.

"What?" she groaned.

"Your mom said that since its a long flight we should each go get some lunch that we can take on the plane to eat and some snacks as well. I wanted to get another book or magazine anyway. Come on." Rachel said. The two stood up and followed Quinn, Brittany, Alicia, and Jamie.

"Al, Jamie, stay with Santana." Ricky said.

"San, watch them." Nina said.

"Mom. I got it. There's four of us to keep an eye on them." Santana said, turning toward the other three. "Help me keep an eye on them." she said as they walked.

"Okay, lets get the books first." Quinn said. Santana nodded and they turned into the nearest book store. After picking up a _Sports _Illustrated for her father and a book for her mother, Santana started to walk past the comic book section when something caught her eye.

"Oh my god. Britt, do you remember when all we used to do was read these?" Santana asked, holding up an Archie comic book. Brittany looked over and laughed.

"Please. I still read those." Brittany said. Santana smiled and tossed her the comic. "Do you want to get one and trade like we used to?" Brittany asked. Santana started to say no, but then Rachel's words were in her head. Slowly she nodded.

"Sure. Look there's like six different ones, so we each get three and then we'll switch." Santana said. Rachel watched from across the store.

"Hey." Quinn said softly. Rachel looked over. "Even if they get close again, she won't leave you. Santana loves you way too much." Quinn said. Rachel smiled.

"Honestly, that hadn't even crossed my mind. I want Santana and Brittany to be friends again. I know that Santana has been happier since we got together. Anyone with eyes could see that the moment she passed a freshman and didn't slushie or even say anything to them. But I've always been able to tell that something was missing. And I always knew that it was her best friend." Rachel said. Quinn nodded.

"You and Santana are really good for each other. You balance each other out." Quinn said. Rachel smiled.

"Thanks, Quinn. Anyway, how come you aren't over there with them?" Rachel asked. Quinn laughed.

"I was never as into those comics as they were. Santana would never admit it, but she had shelves of them. After she gave Britt her copies back, she always went and bought them herself. Don't ask me why, she just did. Anyway, what book are you going to buy?" Quinn asked. Rachel shrugged.

"I don't know... I was leaning toward buying one of those _Pretty Little Liar _books. I haven't read the last one." Rachel said.

"Hmm... I haven't read the second to last one." Quinn said. Rachel grinned.

"Wanna switch?" she said, causing Quinn to laugh. Santana looked over to see her girlfriend and Quinn laughing together. It certainly wasn't an every day occurrence. She met Rachel's gaze and smiled before mouthing, _I love you_. Rachel grinned.

_I love you_. she mouthed back. Santana smiled before turning her attention back to Brittany. "S... check this out." Brittany said, picking up a cheerleading magazine. One the cover was a picture of Sue Sylvester.

"Ugh. Even when we go on vacation, she follows us." Santana said. She looked at the caption. "She got everything she deserved. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if she wrote this article about her." Santana said. Brittany opened to the article.

"_The Amazing Life of the Talented Sue Sylvester_ by Sue Sylvester." she read. Santana rolled her eyes and put the magazine back. Rachel walked up.

"You guys ready to go?" Rachel asked. Santana shook her head.

"I haven't got-" Santana stopped when Rachel handed her a magazine. "How'd you know I was going to say _Seventeen_?" Santana asked.

"Because I saw you put _Vogue, Teen Vogue, _and_ Cosmo _in your this morning before we left." Rachel said. Santana smiled "I also took the liberty of ignoring the magazine with Coach Sylvester's picture on the cover. I didn't really think you'd want that, though it did actually make me jump back." Rachel said.

"We already saw it." Brittany said.

"Britt, here's that cat magazine you wanted... oh and that cat food cookbook." Quinn said, handing them to Brittany.

"Awesome!" Brittany said, smiling.

"They make a cat food cookbook?" Santana asked.

"Apparently." Quinn said. They found Jamie and Alicia and bought their books and magaznes. After convincing Brittany that she didn't need a cat calendar in Hawaii, they went in search of food. They decided to buy the snack foods first, as it would be easier to do without holding hot food as well. Everyone got a bottle of water and they each got another drink as well. Santana grabbed a bottle of red Gatorade Brittany grabbed a bottle of orange juice. Quinn grabbed a bottle of Vitamin Water. Alicia grabbed a bottle of orange Gatorade. Jamie grabbed a bottle of apple juice. Rachel grabbed a bottle of lemonade. They eached decided to get a bag of chips, a bag of candy, a candy bar, and one other snack food. Santana grabbed a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, a bag of Sour Patch Kids, a Milky Way bar, and a bag of regular Cheez-Its. Brittany grabbed a bag of Cheetos, a bag of Gummi Worms, a Snickers bar, and a bag of Goldfish. Quinn grabbed a bag of Sour Cream and Onion flavored Lays, a bag of sour Gummi Worms, an Almond Joy, and a bag of Bold 'n Party Chex Mix. Alicia grabbed a bag of Barbeque flavored Lays, a bag of gummy Starbursts, a Twix bar, and a bag of regular Chex Mix. Jamie grabbed a bag of Funyons, a bag of Tootsie Rolls, a Payday bar, and a bag of Bugels. Rachel grabbed a bag of Nacho Doritos, a 3 Musketeers bar, a bag of Gummi Bears, and a bag of Cheddar Jack Cheez-Its. Santana picked out bags of regular Lays, bags of M&Ms, Mounds bars, and bags of pretzels for her parents. After they had all that paid for and put in their bags with their books and magazines _(they had each gotten separate bags so that itd be easier to deal with later)_, they headed to get their lunch that they'd take on the plane.

"Hey, its like a twelve hour flight, right?" Alicia asked. Santana shrugged. "Well shouldn't we get something else, just in case we don't like the food on the plane?" she suggested.

"Al, you just bought like three pounds of food." Quinn said.

"You two can't choose between two places, right?" Santana guessed. Alicia nodded. "That's no reason to buy food." Santana said.

"Think about it. We can always save the packaged food for if we go somewhere in Hawaii and get hungry." Alicia said. Santana gave in.

"Fine. Where do you want to go?" she asked.

"Chick-fil-A and that pizza place." Jamie said.

"You're gonna have to deal without Chick-fil-A. Rachel's vegetarian." Santana said.

"There's a Subway right next to it. I can go there why'll you guys get Chick-fil-A, then we'll go to the pizza place." Rachel said. Santana hesitated. "Go, San."

"I'll eat at Subway with you." Brittany said. Rachel looked up. "If you want... I don't really like Chick-fil-A." Brittany continued.

"Yea sure... thanks." Rachel said, following the blonde to Subway.

"That was weird." Quinn said. Santana could only nod as they went to get their own food.

"Hey you're not gonna be mad if I get meat, are you?" Brittany asked as they stood in line.

"No... if I were going to get mad, I would have made a scene about Chick-fil-A. I'll just look away when Santana eats it on the plane." Rachel said. Brittany nodded. "Thanks for doing this, Brittany." Rachel said.

"I'm trying. I'm sorry for what I did to you. It wasn't okay. I was just jealous, but... you're good for Santana. You've managed to chill her out." Brittany said. Rachel smiled. "Just... don't hurt her. I've hurt her enough." Brittany said.

"I won't." Rachel promised. Brittany smiled and stepped up to order.

"Can I get a... hold on." she said, turning back to Rachel. "You're _sure_ you won't get mad?" Brittany asked. Rachel shook her head. "Okay then. I want a six inch Spicy Italian on white bread, with American cheese. Oh and can you put some bacon on there too?" Brittany said.

"Vegetables?"

"Lettuce, pickles, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers. And can I get some Spicy Mustard on the side?" Brittany said. Another guy stepped up to the counter to take Rachel's order.

"Hi... can I get a six inch Veggie Delight on Italian Herbs and Spices with American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, pickles, and peppers with some Ranch dressing on the side?" Rachel asked. Soon, both girls had their sandwiches and the cookies that Brittany insisted on buying them. As they walked toward the pizza place, they saw the Chick-fil-A group waiting at a table. They all stood up as they saw the pair. Santana smiled at Rachel.

"What'd you get?" she asked. Rachel smiled.

"Veggie Delight, what else?" she asked. Santana rolled her eyes. "What about you?" she asked.

"I got a salad, an order of fries, and a small order of chicken nuggets." Santana said. Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"You went to Chick-fil-A and got a salad?" Rachel asked.

"Yea... I'm sitting by you and I know you don't like meat, so I figured that if I put the nuggets in the salad, you aren't forced to be so up close and personal with me eating a chicken sandwich. This way, you aren't forced to see it. The salad will disguise the chicken. Just don't ask for a bite." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"That's really sweet." Rachel said.

"Yea... we each got milkshakes too. Plus, I got my dad two chicken sandwich meals because he's like a bottomless pit and my mom one of those chicken wrap thingies. Anyway, let's get pizza." Santana said. Everyone got two pieces of pizza, a small salad with on the side, a drink, and a piece of garlic bread. Everyone except Rachel also got two small pepperoni rolls. "Rach, I love you, but I can't live without my pepperoni rolls." Santana said. Rachel laughed.

"Its fine San." Rachel said. Santana smiled and ordered her one pepperoni and one Hawaiian, with a Coke to drink. Brittany ordered one pepperoni and one cheese, with a Dr. Pepper to drink. Quinn ordered one pepperoni and one pepperoni with olives, with a root beer to drink. Alicia ordered one pepperoni and one Hawaiian, with a Coke to drink. Jamie ordered two pepperoni with black olives, with an orange soda to drink. Rachel ordered two vegetarian slices, with a Sprite. Santana ordered her parents each one pepperoni and one Hawaiian, with Coke to drink _(they weren't a very diverse family when it came to pizza and soda)_. Once they all had their food, they made their way back to Santana's parents when they reached them, Ricky looked up and felt his eyes widen.

"How much of my money did you girls spend?" he said. Santana looked down at their bags and smiled sheepishly. "So explain, why did you guys need pizza, _and_ Chick-fil-A, _and_ Subway?" he asked.

"Actually, Brittany and Rachel were the only ones who got Subway." Santana said. Her father raise an amused eyebrow.

"What's in the bag _mija_?" he asked.

"Books."

"And?" he asked.

"Well, we bought snacks first. Then we decided that we can always eat them when we're in Hawaii." Santana explained. Her father smiled.

"Sit down. All of you. We have to board soon. You all were gone forever." Nina said. Santana smiled and walked over to where she and Rachel had been sitting and grabbed Rachel's bag.

"Babe? Here's your bag." Santana said, handing her the bag.

"Thanks." Rachel said. Santana nodded and picked her own bag up.

"You guys got everything?" Nina asked. The girls nodded.

_"Now boarding first class."_

"All right. Let's go." Ricky said. Ricky, Nina, Jamie, Alicia, Quinn, Brittany, Santana, and Rachel got in line. "Alicia, Jamie, make sure that either Nina and I are around you or Santana, Rachel, Brittany, and Quinn are around you until we are settled on the plane." he said. Soon, they were on the plane. Ricky and Nina were sitting together. Across the aisle from them was Jamie and Alicia. Three rows back, Santana and Rachel were sitting together and across the aisle from them was Brittany and Quinn.

"Rae, you comfortable?" Santana asked. Rachel looked over and smiled.

"Yea. I'm good. You?" Rachel asked. Santana nodded. "How do you feel about Brittany coming along?" Rachel asked, lowering her voice.

"Yea... I think I may be okay with it." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"I think it'd be good if you reconcile your friendship with Brittany. She's such a huge part of your life." Rachel said. Santana nodded.

"What'd she say when you guys went to Subway?" Santana asked.

"She... actually she apologized for what happened." Rachel said. Santana raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I didn't see that one coming." Santana said.

"Neither did I. I think we have a very interesting vacation ahead of us." Rachel said


	21. Chapter 21

Santana, Rachel, Brittany, and Quinn walked into their Hawaiian hotel room. Jaw dropped at the beautiful room, Santana set her bag down on one of the beds as Rachel walked over to their balcony to look at the view. "Oh my god. San, come here." Rachel said. Smiling, Santana walked to her girlfriend's side and looked out the window. "Isn't it beautiful?" Rachel asked. Santana looked down and nodded her agreement, chuckling as Rachel yawned.

"Are you tired, pretty girl?" she asked. Rachel nodded and leaned into Santana's body. "What about you guys?" the Latina asked the blondes, who shook their heads. "Okay... Rae, why don't you go to sleep and we'll go check out the hotel for a little bit so you'll have some silence? Is that okay?" Santana suggested. Everyone nodded and the three former cheerleaders were soon out the door. By the time they reached the lobby, Brittany was yawning.

"Britt, I thought you said that you weren't tired." Quinn said. Brittany shrugged.

"I wasn't... but now I am... maybe I can only be tired on this floor..." Brittany said. Santana smiled.

"I doubt it. Let's just get some magazines from the gift shop and go back upstairs. I can see sleep starting to make its way into Quinn's eyes and I could fall asleep if I tried." she said. Soon, they were quietly making their way back into their room. Smiling at the sleeping figure of her girlfriend, Santana made her way over to the bed that the blondes were to share, settling between her friends as the three read one of the magazines they had bought. Within fifteen minutes, all three girls were fast asleep. After what felt like thirty seconds, Quinn was woken up by something that sounded like a person yelling.

"No... _no_! Please stop doing this to me!" she heard. Carefully sitting up, Quinn looked around and saw that Rachel was the one yelling.

"S... S, wake up." Quinn whispered, shaking her friend who was sprawled across the two blondes.

"What do you want, Q?" the Latina mumbled.

"Its Rachel, I think she's having a nightmare or something." Quinn said. Suddenly wide awake, Santana jumped off the bed and was at her girlfriend's side in two seconds.

"Rae, baby, wake up. You're okay, just wake up." Santana said. Rachel continued yelling in her sleep and, with fear in her eyes, Santana looked at Quinn and a now awake Brittany.

"Is she okay?" Quinn asked.

"I... I don't know. I've never seen her this bad before." Santana whispered, clearly on the verge of tears. "Rachel, baby, I'm here, just wake up." Santana pleaded as she stroked her girlfriend's hair. "I'm here for you, pretty girl. Just wake up, _please_." After five or so minutes, Rachel was calm enough that Santana was able to get on the bed and pull her into her arms. Still stroking her hair, Santana let the tears fall. "You're okay, baby. I got ya." she whispered. Rachel suddenly looked up at her. "Oh dear god." Santana breathed, kissing her girlfriend softly.

"San... Santana, I was... oh my god." Rachel said, crying. Looking at her two friends, Santana picked Rachel up and carried her into the bathroom.

"Are you okay?" Santana whispered, allowing the diva to sit on the closed toilet seat as she sat on the edge of the tub, much like when they first acknowledged their feelings for each other back in New York.

"No... it hasn't been that life like since we lived in the same town as him. When we moved to Lima they weren't as vivid. I guess I felt that since I wasn't in the same town, I was safer." Rachel said. Santana frowned.

"You don't think... no. There's no possible way that he could be _here_, right?" Santana asked. Rachel shook her head.

"No. Last I heard, he was in jail." she said. Santana nodded, though visibly unsure.

"Do you want to go get some coffee, pretty girl?" she asked softly. Rachel smiled slightly.

"I'd like that, rich girl." she whispered. Santana smiled and stood up, offering her hand to the diva.

"We're going to go get some coffee from downstairs." Santana said to the blondes as they walked out of the room. Heading to the elevator, Santana put a comforting hand on Rachel's back. "You have _no_ idea how scared I was, babe." she said softly. Rachel frowned.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. I've just never seen it that bad before." Santana said. Stepping into the elevator, she looked at the advertisments. "Whoa. They have surf lessons here. I have _got_ to try that." she said, grinning as she turned to Rachel. "Will you do it with me?" she asked hopefully. Rachel smiled.

"I doubt I'd be very good at it, but I'd love to watch you surf." Rachel replied. Santana frowned at the answer. "San, if you want to do it, then do it. We're on vacation, go for it." Rachel said. Santana nodded.

"I'll talk to the guy at the front desk when we're in the lobby." she said, heading straight for the front desk when they reached the lobby. "Hi. Who do I talk to about surfing lessons?" she asked. He pointed her in the right direction and they went. Santana walked into a small office and immediately stopped in her tracks. "H... Hi..." she stammered as she looked at the beautiful girl in the office. Rachel frowned, but ignored her girlfriend's actions.

"Can I help you?" the girl asked with a smile. Santana couldn't form words and Rachel rolled her eyes.

"She wants to sign up for surfing lessons." the diva offered. Santana nodded.

"Great! I'm Ronnie. I'm the surf instructor here. Did you want private lessons or a group lesson?" she asked.

"Private." Santana said quickly. Rachel looked up with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not embarrassing myself in front of a bunch of people, Rae." the Latina said.

"I have a slot open tomorrow morning around eleven. Is that okay?" Ronnie asked. Santana nodded. "Great. What's your name?"

"Santana Lopez." Ronnie smiled flirtatioiusly before writing it down and looking at Rachel.

"Did you want one too?" she asked. Rachel smiled with fake sweetness and shook her head.

"No. I'll just be sitting on the beach and watching Santana." she said, hoping the bleach blonde caught her drift as Santana awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Well, I'll see you at eleven." Ronnie said, smiling once more at Santana as the girl's backed out of the office.

"Bye." Santana said lamely before turning around and catching up to her girlfriend. "Rachel, you were kind of rude back there." Santana said. Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"Oh I was, was I?" Santana nodded. "And what would you call flirting with that bleach blonde surfer chick right in front of me?" Rachel asked. Santana opened her mouth but Rachel kept speaking. "San, I really don't care if you think she's attractive. I'm not going to deny that she was. But I need to know that you won't do anything while she's teaching you to surf. I mean, she'll be in a swim suit." Rachel said. Santana smirked.

"Someone's jealous." she teased.

"Someone's in love and doesn't want some bleach blonde beach goddess stealing her girlfriend." Rachel corrected.

"So she's a goddess now?" the Latina teased.

"_Santana." _Rachel said. Santana's expression softened.

"Baby, you know that you're the only girl that even comes _close _to being on my mind." she said. Rachel smiled and started to lean in.

"Santana!" The Latina turned when she heard her name.

"Hey Ronnie!" she said, smiling brightly. Rachel bit her lip and went toward the coffee shop and stood in line. Just as she was about to step up, she saw someone oddly familiar. As she connected the pieces in her mind, she gasped and ran away. Seeing her girlfriend still talking to Ronnie, Rachel sprinted to the pair.

"San, we have to go." Rachel said. Santana didn't look away from Ronnie.

"I'm in the middle of a conversation, Rae." Rachel pulled the Latina's face to look at her own.

"_Please_." she whispered, pleading with her eyes. Seeing her girlfriend's expression, Santana gave her a strange yet concerned look.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I think... I swear... San, I think I saw him." she said. Santana's eyes went wide and she looked around even though she had no idea who she was looking for.

"Where?"

"The coffee shop." Rachel said, looking around. Santana looked and saw her girlfriend's gaze fixated on one person in particular.

"Ronnie, do you know who that guy is?" Santana asked.

"Uh... He's a new employee. He works in the restaraunt as a waiter. The owner of the hotel hired him on a probationary period, because he did time." she offered. Santana bit her lip and absently pulled Rachel closer to her.

"What's his name?" Rachel asked softly.

"Dean. Dean Carson." Santana watched as Rachel's eyes went wide and immediately knew that was the guy. "Why? Do you know him?" Ronnie asked.

"Can you _not_ tell him we asked about him?" Santana asked. Ronnie nodded. "Thanks. Let's go back to the room, Rae." Santana said. Rachel nodded and allowed Santana to lead her to the elevator.

"San..."

"Baby, I swear if he gets near you, I'll kill him." Santana said. Rachel nodded. "Okay. We won't eat in the restaraunt. You won't leave my side. Do you want to tell my parents?" Santana asked.

"No. I'm not ruining their vacation." Rachel said.

"Rae, they can talk to somebody about it. They can keep you safe." Santana said.

"_No_." Santana sighed.

"All right. We won't tell them. But I'm telling you, they can help." Santana whispered.

"San, please. Just protect me and I'll be fine." Rachel said.

"Baby, I don't want you to get hurt. He hurt you before. I don't want it to happen again." her girlfriend said. Rachel shook her head. "Rachel, _please_." Santana pleaded.

"We'll tell them if it gets too much for me to handle." Rachel compromised.

"That's code for we'll tell them if something really bad happens." Santana said. Rachel shook her head.

"Please. I know my limits." she whispered. Santana sighed, but gave in.

"If I think that you're scared for one second, I'm telling them." she said. Rachel nodded.

"Fair enough." Santana nodded and kissed her girlfriend. "I love you, Santana."

"I love you too, Rach. I want to protect you." she said. Rachel smiled.

"I know you do." They stepped out of the elevator and went to their room.

"Are you okay, Rachel?" Brittany asked. The diva nodded in response.

"Where's the coffee?" Quinn asked.

"Something came up." Santana said, giving them a look that told them they'd find out later. Nodding, the blondes fell back asleep. Slipping back into bed, Santana pulled Rachel into her arms. "Its been a long time since I held you in a hotel room." she whispered. Rachel smiled.

"Too long." she agreed, kissing the Latina before falling asleep.


	22. Chapter 22

"All right Lopez. Spill." Quinn said the minute Rachel was out of ear shot. Santana looked at her two best friends and sighed.

"Where should I start?" she asked.

"The nightmare would be a good place." Brittany said. Santana nodded.

"When Rachel was little, one of her dads friends used to beat her. She still gets nightmares about it. Last night's was the worst its been in a really long time. She told me that it hadn't been that bad since they lived in the same town as him. When we went downstairs, she saw him in the lobby. He works at the hotel that we're staying at. She'd never admit it, but I know she's terrified." she said. Quinn and Brittany exchanged a worried look.

"Did you tell your parents?" Quinn asked.

"Rachel refuses to tell them." Santana sighed.

"Why?" Brittany asked.

"Who knows? All I know is she won't let me tell my parents about the fact that he's here." Santana said as they rounded a corner in the lobby. Suddenly she stopped walking.

"San? Are you okay?" Brittany asked.

"That's him." she said. Brittany and Quinn followed her glare.

"Where's Rachel?" Quinn asked, looking around.

"With Alicia and Jamie. They went to look at those gift shops." Brittany answered. Santana continued to glare at the man.

"Keep her safe during my surfing lesson today, okay?" she asked. They nodded. The three of them were going hiking while Santana surfed.

* * *

><p>Rachel, Alicia, and Jamie were looking around gift shops when Rachel suddenly ran into someone. "Oh my god. I am so sorry." she said.<p>

"Rachel?" she looked up.

"Oh god." she whispered, backing up. Dean smiled at her.

"Its been a long time."

"Yea well you were in jail." Rachel said. Dean nodded.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you." he said. Rachel shook her head.

"I don't want your apology. I want you to leave me alone." she said. He nodded and walked away.

"Rachel, are you okay? Who was that?" Alicia asked. Rachel shook her head.

"No one. Don't tell anybody about that, okay? Especially Santana. If you do, I'll never trust you again." she said.

* * *

><p>"Baby, are you sure you don't want to surf? I'm sure Ronnie would let you join." Santana said as she held Rachel's hand while they walked along the beach. Rachel smiled up at her.<p>

"I'm sure sweetie. You have fun." she said, squeezing her hand.

"And you be careful." Santana said seriously. Rachel nodded.

"I promise, my love." she said. Santana smiled softly.

"I love you, Rachel." she said, kissing the diva as she took Rachel's other hand in her own.

"Hey Santana. You ready?" The two girls broke apart and Santana smiled at the blonde intruder.

"Definitely. I'll see you later, Rach." she said, quickly kissing the smaller girl before releasing her hands. Rachel waved and ran to meet up with Quinn and Brittany so they could go on their hike.

* * *

><p>Alicia and Jamie were walking around the shops outside the hotel when Alicia saw the same guy that was talking to Rachel watching said girl. "Isn't that the guy Rachel was talking to earlier?" Jamie asked. Alicia nodded. "He's, like, stalking her or something." she said.<p>

"Yea, I know... Do you think I should tell Santana?" Alicia asked.

"Rachel told you not to." Jamie said.

"Yea I know, but something doesn't feel right." Alicia said, biting her lip.

* * *

><p>"Brittany, how the hell did you already manage to get us lost?" Quinn yelled. Rachel was attempting to use a compass while Brittany sat on a rock doing something that neither Rachel nor Quinn could describe.<p>

"Brittany, what are you doing?" Rachel dared to ask.

"Trying to get in touch with the forest gods. Maybe they can send us a GPS." Brittany answered. Quinn rolled her eyes while Rachel just stared.

"Britt, that's ridiculous!"

"Quinn don't yell. You never know what animals are in the forest." Brittany said.

"There could also be people!" Quinn said. Rachel sighed.

"I can't figure this thing out. What way did we come from?" she asked. Quinn shrugged.

"Who knows? We're lost!" Rachel nodded.

"I'm going to go look around." she said.

* * *

><p>"San!" Santana turned around and saw her sister running toward her.<p>

"What, Ali? I'm busy."

"What's up with Rachel?" Santana froze.

"What do you mean?"

"We were at the gift shops and some guy was talking to her and she got all freaked out. I wasn't supposed to tell you, but it seemed kind of serious." Alicia said.

"Oh my god." Santana whispered.

"Then I saw him watching her as she, Quinn, and Britt were leaving to go hiking." Jamie added. Santana threw down her surf board and started packing up her stuff.

"Santana? Are you okay? You've still got another half hour." Ronnie said.

"I have to go. I'm so sorry." Santana said, jumping into her basketball shorts and throwing on her tshirt. "Ali, Jamie, go get Mom and Dad and tell them to meet me where Rachel, Quinn, and Britt were going hiking." Santana said, putting on her tennis shoes and taking off running. Alicia grabbed her bag and went running back to the hotel.

* * *

><p>"Where are we?" Rachel muttered to herself.<p>

"Are you a little lost?" Rachel turned around.

"What... what do you want?" she asked, backing up. Dean smiled threateningly as he advanced on her. "Please leave me alone." she whispered.

"Rachel... you put me in jail for ten years. I can't just let you get away with that." he said. She bit her lip, praying that Quinn or Brittany would come find her.

* * *

><p>"Rachel has been gone a really long time." Brittany said. Quinn nodded, looking around. She was actually pretty worried about the diva. "Should we go looking for her?" the taller of the two asked.<p>

"I don't know. What if she comes back and we aren't here?" Quinn said. Brittany nodded.

"True."

* * *

><p>Alicia and Jamie ran to where they'd last seen Nina and Ricky. "Mom! Dad!" Alicia yelled, coming to a stop.<p>

"What's wrong _mija_?" Ricky asked.

"San... Rach..."

"Are Santana and Rachel okay?" Nina asked.

"Santana said that they guy that used to beat Rachel works at the hotel. He was talking to Rachel earlier today and we think he followed her on her hike. Santana went after him." Alicia said. Ricky jumped out of his chair.

"Nina, call the police." he said, running toward the exit.

* * *

><p>Santana only had one thing on her mind as she ran: Find Rachel. All she could think about was protecting her diva. As she ran through the trail she kept searching for any sign of Rachel. She heard voices and immediately went in that direction. She saw her two best friends.<p>

"Santana?" Quinn asked, standing up from the rock she'd been standing on.

"Where's Rachel?" Santana asked.

"We don't know. She was trying to figure out where we were. How did you manage to find us?" Quinn asked.

"Wait. What's wrong?" Brittany asked.

"Ali told me that she saw the guy watching Rachel as you guys came here. I have to find her." Santana said, taking a sip of Brittany's water. They heard yelling and all turned in that direction.

* * *

><p>Alicia, Jamie, and Nina were instructed to wait outside the trail as the police ran in to search for the group. As they waited, Nina leaned up against one of the police cars and began crying.<p>

"Mom, its goint to be okay. They're all going to be okay." Alicia said, hugging her mother.

* * *

><p>Ricky ran as fast as he could through the forest in search of his daughter, her girlfriend, andor her friends. Just as he was about to call out their names, he heard yelling and pushed himself to run even faster.

* * *

><p>"Please just leave me alone!" Rachel yelled. Dean shook his head and slapped her across the face. "Please!" she cried.<p>

"Just shut up!" he hissed. She attempted to stop her crying, praying that Quinn and Brittany heard her. She desperately wanted Santana. She hated to think that while this was happening to her, Santana was down at the beach with Ronnie.

"Get the fuck off of her!" Rachel opened her eyes at the familiar voice.

* * *

><p>As soon as Santana processed that the voice she heard was Rachel's, she shot off like a rocket. The first thing she saw was Dean slapping her girlfriend.<p>

"Get the fuck off of her!" Dean turned to her.

"What did you just say to me?"

"I said leave my girlfriend alone!" Santana hissed, running over. She managed to slip in between Rachel and the large man, reaching a hand behind her to somewhat hug Rachel protectively. Rachel cried behind her and Santana's anger increased even more.

"What are you goint to do?" Dean asked.

"Kick your ass if you touch her again. You're done hurting her." Santana said. Dean laughed and punched Santana, sending the girl back and causing the two girls to fall.

* * *

><p>Ricky saw the man hit his daughter and blew up. "You son of a bitch!" he yelled, tackling him to the ground. Quinn and Brittany ran up and processed the scene, immediately running to the two brunettes as the police showed up. They managed to get Ricky off of Dean before dealing with him.<p>

"Rae, are you okay?" Santana asked as she got off of her girlfriend. The diva nodded, in terms of having Santana falling on her, but immediately went into the taller girl's arms as she started crying. "Baby, I am so sorry." Santana whispered as she held her girlfriend close.

"San, I was so scared. All I could think of was how you had no idea what was happening. I just wanted you." Rachel cried softly.

"I'm here, pretty girl. I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner. I couldn't find you." Santana said.

"San." The Latina looked up and saw Brittany pointing at a gun and a knife that had fallen out of Dean's pockets when Ricky tackled him.

"Oh my god." Quinn whispered. Rachel clung to the Latina even tighter.

* * *

><p>As she saw the group exit the forest, Nina breathed after what felt like forever. She immediately ran to Rachel, before hugging Santana and Ricky at the same time. After that she went to the blondes. Alicia hung back with a guilty expression. "Ali, what's wrong?" Santana asked. Rachel looked over.<p>

"I'm sorry, Rachel."

"For what?" Rachel asked, leaning into Santana for support.

"You told me not to tell anyone, and I told Santana _and_ my parents _and _the police." Alicia said. Rachel bit her lip and hugged the younger girl.

"Thank you, Alicia. If you hadn't told Santana, she wouldn't have known to come look for me and he'd still be trying to hurt me in there. You did the right thing. I shouldn't have asked that of you." Rachel said.

* * *

><p>After dealing with all of the police work, Santana, Brittany, Rachel, Quinn, Alicia, Jamie, Ricky, and Nina were heading back to the hotel. "Rachel, you should have told us about this last night. We could have helped you." Ricky said. Rachel nodded.<p>

"I know. I'm so sorry. I just didn't want to ruin your vacation." she said. Santana squeezed her hand.

"Sweetie, your safety is far more important. Please don't ever feel like you can't tell us something because you want to make sure we enjoy ourselves. We want you to be able to tell us if you don't feel safe." Nina said. Ricky nodded his agreement.

"As our daughter's girlfriend, you are like a surrogate daughter to us. We'd help you or protect you as if you were Santana or Alicia. That goes for all of you. Quinn, Brittany, and Jamie, if you ever feel unsafe you need to tell us." he said. The girls nodded. "And I especially want you two to tell us." he said, looking at Alicia and Santana.

"Yes _Papi_." they said in unison.

* * *

><p>Santana, Rachel, Quinn, and Brittany were watching TV in their hotel room. Santana and Rachel were lying on their bed, with Rachel in Santana's arms. The Latina was stroking the diva's hair and occasionally kissing her temple. "Pretty girl, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that." she whispered. Rachel leaned into her and Santana pulled her even closer. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there sooner."<p>

"You got there. That's what matters to me. If you'd shown up any later who knows what may have happened. We don't know what he-"

"I really don't want to think about it." Santana whispered. Rachel nodded.

"Neither do I." she said. Santana kissed her softly.

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay. I was so scared when he hit you." Rachel said. Santana nodded.

"I love you so much, Rachel."

"I love you too, San. So much." Rachel replied.


	23. Chapter 23

Rachel woke up in Santana's arms and took a moment to simply be thankful they were both alive. She felt the taller girl kiss the top of her head and turned around with tears in her eyes. "Hey... what's wrong?" Santana whispered so she didn't wake up the blondes. Rachel shook her head and tried to wipe the tears away.

"Its nothing." she said.

"Rachel, you can tell me anything. I love you, I won't judge you." Santana said. Rachel sighed. "Rae, baby, please tell me." Santana whispered.

"I just... I know you don't want to talk about it, but I can't help but think about what could have happened yesterday." Santana frowned.

"I have to get your mind off of that. Baby, you're okay. I'm okay. I love you, but you can't keep thinking about that, okay? Its only going to make you even more upset." she said. Rachel nodded as Santana jumped up and started getting dressed. "Get ready. We're spending the entire day together. Just you and me." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"I'd love that." The couple got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. "San, I don't want to eat here. I know he's not here, but still." Santana nodded and grabbed Rachel's hand.

"Its okay, baby. I understand." she said, pulling her out of the hotel. "There's like a ton of restaraunts to choose from." she said. They walked down the street before Rachel tugged on Santana's hand.

"San, wait. Can we go in here?" Rachel asked as they stopped in front of a shop. Santana grinned and nodded. Putting her sunglasses on top of her head, she walked with Rachel through the shop. "I have to get souvenirs for my dads." Rachel explained. Santana grinned.

"What's my souvenir, pretty girl?" she asked softly. Rachel smiled.

"Me, of course." she said. Santana chuckled.

"You're a great option, but I'm gonna need something else." she said. Rachel rolled her eyes and gently kissed the other girl. "Baby, can we eat and then come back?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded and allowed Santana to lead her out of the shop.

* * *

><p>"San, this is the fifth roller coaster we've ridden." Rachel said as Santana pulled her into another line. Santana laughed and kissed her girlfriend.<p>

"Baby, roller coasters are fun. Are you having fun?"

"Yea." Rachel admitted.

"Then they're doing their job." Santana said smugly. Rachel bit her lip and looked down. "Or they were until I said that. Damn it. I'm so sorry pretty girl."

"Its fine."

"No its not." Santana said, pulling Rachel out of line and over to a table. "I'm sorry, love."

"Baby, I said its fine."

"And I said it wasn't. Now I'm gonna make you forget all about it."

"You've been doing a wonderful job of that all day. I just let one silly comment get to me and I shouldn't have." Rachel said softly.

"Baby don't apologize." Santana whispered, kissing the diva softly.

"I love you." Rachel said as she pulled away. Santana grinned and leaned into the diva slightly.

"I love you too."

"Let's get back in line, okay?" Rachel asked. Santana grinned and nodded. 


	24. Chapter 24

"Are you glad to be home?" Santana asked as she walked into Rachel's bedroom. The diva looked up from the book she was reading and smiled up at her girlfriend.

"Yea, I am." she admitted.

"I never asked you... How did your dads react when they found out about what happened in Hawaii?" Santana asked, laying down on Rachel's bed. Rachel bit her lip. "Oh god. No. They hate me, right? I knew that they would."

"No, no! Santana, it's not your fault. What happened with Dean is not your fault." Rachel said, grabbing Santana's hand.

"So they don't hate me? Cause you're my pretty girl and I don't think that I could handle it if your parents hated me." Santana said. Rachel smiled.

"They don't hate you, rich girl." she said, squealing as Santana pulled her into a hug. "Santana, stop tickling me!" she yelled.

"No!" Santana said, laughing as Rachel squirmed.

"You're mean!" Rachel said.

"I'm lovable!" Santana corrected, stopping her attack. Rachel giggled and nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you." she whispered.

"You did protect me." Rachel said.

"Not enough. He still found you. He almost hurt you." Santana said. Rachel cupped her face.

"But you stopped him before anything serious could happen. You protected me." she whispred. Santana shrugged. "I love you so much." she said.

"I love you too." Santana said as Rachel kissed her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry its short, just trying to get back into this story!**


	25. Chapter 25

"Hey Lopez." Santana looked up from her gym locker and saw Natalie Rogers smiling at her.

"Hey Natalie. What's up?" she asked, opening her locker to grab something. She didn't usually come into the locker room during this period, but she'd left something in there after Cheerios practice and she had to get it. She conveniently waited until she knew Rachel had gym, however.

"Nothing, just not used to seeing you here right now." Santana shrugged, aware that Natalie was stepping closer. "Here to see someone special?"

"Actually, yes." Santana said, closing her locker before turning to see Rachel. "She's right there so if you'll excuse me." With that, she stepped past Natalie and moved towards Rachel. "Hey pretty girl."

"Hey rich girl." Rachel said, grinning at her girlfriend. They were a month into their senior year and had finally come up with a plan. Rachel was applying to NYADA and Santana was applying to Columbia. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I left my calculus book in here after practice and I knew you had gym this period, so I came to get it." Rachel smiled softly. "So you wanna go out to dinner tonight?"

"That sounds perfect. Maybe after we can go look at potential apartments online?" Rachel asked. Santana grinned and nodded. "I have to go, but I'll see you at lunch."

"For sure, baby."

* * *

><p>"I like this one." Santana said. She and Rachel were in the garage apartment, laying on her bed in their pajamas.<p>

"Bushwick? That's-"

"In our price range, babe. We don't want to be completely dependent on our parents and besides... I think it kind of has a little character." Santana said. Rachel smiled and nodded. "But we have awhile to keep looking. I want you to be happy."

"As long as you're there, I'm happy."


End file.
